Japan’s space agency, JAXA, is preparing to launch its Martian Moons Exploration mission, known as MMX. An H3 rocket is scheduled to carry the spacecraft from Tanegashima Space Center on 20 October, Japan time. NASA is contributing scientific equipment and communications support. MMX is expected to reach Mars in August 2027.
The mission will investigate how Mars’s two moons, Phobos and Deimos, formed. They may have developed from material thrown into space when an asteroid hit Mars. Alternatively, they could be asteroids, or large space rocks, that Mars captured with its gravity. By studying the moons and examining material from Phobos, scientists hope to distinguish between these explanations.
MMX plans to land on Phobos in 2030 and collect soil and small stones for return to Earth in 2031. Before the landing, a small robotic vehicle called Idefix will explore the surface and help the team choose a landing site. The spacecraft’s collection tools include a device that takes material from below the surface and another that uses nitrogen gas to gather loose material.
