A spacecraft from Japan was launched towards Mars with the goal of exploring its enigmatic moons and retrieving samples. This mission, a collaboration of five international space agencies, aims to land a robotic prospector and a rover on Phobos, the larger of Mars’s two moons. The spacecraft was successfully launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency from Tanegashima Island. This endeavor marks a significant feat, as no previous mission has landed on Phobos or retrieved samples from Mars or its moons.
If successful, samples of dust, soil, and rocks from Phobos are expected to reach Earth in 2031. The mission, known as Martian Moons Exploration (MMX), involves a five-ton spacecraft that is set to reach Mars by the end of the next summer. The spacecraft will align with Phobos’s orbit around Mars and deploy the French-German rover named Idefix onto Phobos.
Idefix, a small rover, will explore Phobos for 100 days, serving as a scout for safety to aid in the collection of samples by a stationary lander. The lander will spend two hours on Phobos, gathering at least 10 grams of material before departing for Earth. The mission also includes studying Mars’s other moon, Deimos, through flybys.
The objective of this mission is to unravel the mysteries surrounding the formation of Mars’s moons and potentially shed light on the origins of other moons in the solar system. By analyzing the samples, scientists hope to gain insights into planetary and moon formation, as well as the possibility of past life on Mars. This mission is a crucial step towards future Mars exploration and understanding the history of the Martian system.
Japan’s investment in this mission amounts to $350 million, with contributions from NASA, the French Space Agency, the German Space Agency, and the European Space Agency. Other countries, including China, are also planning sample return missions from Mars, with a competitive goal of retrieving samples by 2031.