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Japanese spacecraft begins mission to bring a sample back from Mars’s moon Phobos
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Japan’s MMX spacecraft has begun a mission to collect about 10 grams of material from Phobos and return it to Earth, where scientists can study it in laboratories.
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Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft has launched on a mission to collect a sample from Phobos, one of Mars’s two moons, and bring it back to Earth for laboratory study. The mission would be the first to return material from a moon of Mars, according to ANP [1].
The uncrewed spacecraft lifted off on Monday evening, Netherlands time, from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center. It is due to reach Mars and its moons next year. The plan calls for two soft landings on Phobos to collect about 10 grams of surface material, with a return to Earth scheduled for 2031 [1].
Phobos is about 20 kilometres across and orbits roughly 6,000 kilometres above Mars’s surface. Studying its material could help scientists understand how Mars’s moons formed. The research may also offer clues to why Earth became capable of supporting life while Mars did not, the report says [1].
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