Japan Blasts Off Toward Mars' Moon Phobos on Historic Sample-Return Mission

Japan Blasts Off Toward Mars

Japan has launched one of the most ambitious space missions in its history, sending a spacecraft toward the mysterious moons of Mars on a quest to bring pieces of one back to Earth. The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe lifted off aboard Japan's flagship H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in the early hours of Tuesday, October 20.

Led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with support from NASA, the European Space Agency and partners in France, Germany and Spain, the mission aims to land on Phobos — the larger of Mars' two moons — and collect at least 10 grams of soil and rock from its surface. It would be the first time samples from the Martian system have ever been returned to Earth. A small French-German rover named IDEFIX will ride along to study Phobos up close, while the spacecraft also observes the second moon, Deimos.

MMX is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and spend about three years orbiting the planet. The sample capsule is scheduled to land in Australia in 2031. Scientists hope the material will finally reveal whether the moons are captured asteroids or debris from an ancient impact on Mars — a key clue to how the solar system, and possibly life itself, formed.

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