Japan’s Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft launched tonight from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard an H3 rocket, beginning a five-year mission to retrieve samples from Phobos, Mars’s larger moon. The £262 million project, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aims to collect at least 10 grams of dust and rock from Phobos’s surface before returning the samples to Earth in 2031.
The MMX spacecraft consists of three components: a propulsion module to reach Mars, an exploration module equipped with sample collection tools, and a return module designed to deliver the material to Earth. After arriving in August 2027, the mission will conduct detailed observations of both Phobos and Deimos, Mars’s two moons, before attempting to land on Phobos. A small rover, roughly the size of a microwave, will be deployed to scout potential landing sites for the main spacecraft.
Once on Phobos, the MMX will use a robotic arm and two samplers to gather material from the moon’s surface. The collected samples will be sealed in a small capsule and returned to Earth, landing in Australia’s Woomera desert. Scientists hope the material may contain fragments of Mars itself, providing insights into the planet’s history and the origins of its moons. The mission seeks to address a decades-old debate over whether Phobos formed as a captured asteroid or resulted from a giant collision involving Mars.
Key Objectives of the MMX Mission
- Sample Collection: Retrieve at least 10 grams of material from Phobos’s surface.
- Scientific Analysis: Study the samples to determine the moon’s origin and Mars’s geological history.
- Technological Demonstration: Test landing and sample retrieval techniques for future deep-space missions.
- International Collaboration: Involve global partners in sample analysis, including the Natural History Museum in the UK.
The mission’s sample analysis team, led by Prof. Sara Russell of the Natural History Museum, emphasizes the mission’s ambition. “There hasn’t yet been a successful mission to go to Phobos and bring a bit back to Earth,” Russell noted. “I think this is an incredibly ambitious and fun mission.” The irregularly shaped Phobos, measuring about 20 kilometers across, presents unique challenges for landing and sample collection due to its low gravity and proximity to Mars’s stronger gravitational field.
If successful, the MMX mission will mark the first return of samples from Mars or its moons to Earth for laboratory analysis. The findings could reshape understanding of the Martian system’s formation and the broader evolution of the Solar System. The spacecraft’s return capsule is scheduled to land in 2031, concluding a mission spanning nearly a decade from launch to sample recovery.