A landing on Phobos would be considerably less difficult and expensive than a landing on the surface of Mars itself. A lander bound for Mars would need to be capable of atmospheric entry and subsequent return to orbit without any support facilities, or would require the creation of support facilities in-situ. A lander instead bound for Phobos could be based on equipment designed for lunar and asteroid landings.Lee, Pascal; Braham, Stephen; Mungas, Greg; Silver, Matt; Thomas, Peter C.; and West, Michael D. (2005), "Phobos: A Critical Link Between Moon and Mars Exploration", Report of the Space Resources Roundtable VII: LEAG Conference on Lunar Exploration, League City, TX 25–28 Oct 2005. LPI Contrib. 1318, p. 72. Furthermore, due to Phobos' very weak gravity, the delta-v required to land on Phobos and return is only 80% of that required for a trip to and from the surface of the Moon.
a landing on phobos would be considerably less difficult and expensive than a landing on the surface of mars itself a lander bound for mars would need to be capable of atmospheric entry and subsequent return to orbit without any support facilities or would require the creation of support facilities in-situ a lander instead bound for phobos could be based on equipment designed for lunar and asteroid landingslee pascal; braham stephen; mungas greg; silver matt; thomas peter c; and west michael d (2005) "phobos a critical link between moon and mars exploration" report of the space resources roundtable vii leag conference on lunar exploration league city tx 25–28 oct 2005 lpi contrib 1318 p 72 furthermore due to phobos' very weak gravity the delta-v required to land on phobos and return is only 80% of that required for a trip to and from the surface of the moon