Japan has launched the most ambitious sample return mission ever attempted in the Martian system, sending a spacecraft to bring home the first pieces of Mars’ moon Phobos.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Martian Moons eXploration probe, known as MMX, lifted off aboard an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 4:41 a.m. local time on Tuesday, with the spacecraft separating from its launcher about 71 minutes later on its planned path to Mars, according to reports.
A five year round trip
MMX is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and enter orbit around Phobos the following month. The spacecraft will spend about three years studying the moon from orbit, deploy a small French and German built rover named Idefix to the surface, and land to collect at least 10 grams of material from two sites, according to reports.
The return module is scheduled to leave Phobos in November 2030, with the sample capsule landing in Australia in 2031. It would be the first material ever returned from the Martian system, extending Japan’s record in asteroid sample return missions into new territory.
The business of going further
The mission is also a showcase for Japan’s heavy industry. The H3 rocket, built by contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, flew its tenth mission in its most powerful configuration, and the project draws on collaboration with NASA, the French space agency CNES, the German Aerospace Center and the European Space Agency, according to reports.
Scientists hope the samples will settle a long debate over whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or debris from an ancient collision with Mars, and shed light on how water and organic materials spread through the early solar system. JAXA has also said the mission will test technology for a round trip to Mars itself, which it calls essential for crewed exploration.
