"By making close flybys of Phobos with Mars Express in this way, we can help to put constraints on the origin of these mysterious moons," Olivier Witasse, ESA's Mars Express project scientist said in a statement.
Due to launch to the Jovian system in 2022, the satellite will make two close flybys of the ice-encrusted moon in the 2030s.
In 1995, the Galileo spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter and between 1996 and 2000 made six close flybys to explore Ganymede.
The Galileo craft made six close flybys of Ganymede from 1995 2000 (G2, G7, G8, G28 G28 and G29) and discovered that Ganymede has a permanent (intrinsic) magnetic moment independent of the Jovian magnetic field.
A year from now, Osiris-Rex will swing back around and make a close flyby of Earth, using the planet's gravity to tilt the angle of its orbit to match that of Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that is 1,600 feet in diameter and has an orbit around the sun similar to Earth's.
Nasa's New Horizons probe is due to make a close flyby of Pluto in July.
On July 14 , 2015 the craft will make a close flyby of the icy world, ultimately zooming within about 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) of its surface.
Because this was the last major planet the spacecraft could visit, it was decided to make a close flyby of the moon Triton, regardless of the consequences to the trajectory, similarly to what was done for Voyager 1's encounter with Saturn and its moon Titan.
A European spacecraft orbiting Mars is set to make its closest flyby yet of the largest Martian moon, Phobos, on Sunday (Dec. 29).
