The Great Galactic Ghoul

Mars has a history of killing spacecraft.

From the 1960s onward, Soviet probes sent to the red planet met disaster after disaster. The Marsnik, Zond, and Kosmos series either exploded on the launch pad or drifted into the void. The failure rate was so consistent that NASA engineers coined a nickname for whatever seemed to be protecting Mars.

The Great Galactic Ghoul. Something that swallowed uninvited visitors before they could reach their destination.

By 1988, the Soviets decided to try one more time. This mission would target not just Mars, but its mysterious moon Phobos. The goal was ambitious. Get close enough to drop two landing modules onto the moon's surface.

This time, there would be no margin for error. The project brought together expertise from the Soviet Union, West Germany, France, Sweden, and even NASA through its Deep Space Network. Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 launched in July 1988, beginning the 130-million-kilometer journey.

Two months later, Phobos 1 died. A single errant command from mission control accidentally shut down its orientation system. Unable to point its solar panels at the sun, the spacecraft drifted into eternal silence.

Only Phobos 2 remained. It was no longer just a probe. It had become a matter of national pride.

In January 1989, Phobos 2 successfully entered Mars orbit. Data flowed back to Earth. Temperature readings, solar wind measurements, atmospheric composition. The spacecraft performed flawlessly for two months, sending back the clearest images of Phobos ever captured.

Then came March 27th.

The probe was approaching its final objective. To get within 50 meters of the moon's surface, it needed to temporarily break communication with Earth while repositioning its cameras. Mission control waited for the signal to resume.

Minutes became hours. Silence stretched into alarm. Then, a final transmission arrived. A last gasp from the dying spacecraft.

And in that transmission was an image that would change everything.