MISSION LAUNCHED TO BRING BACK SAMPLES FROM MARS MOON

TOKYO, OCTOBER 20 /SRNA/ - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency /JAXA/ announced that it had launched a mission aimed at becoming the first to land a spacecraft on Mars’ satellite Phobos and return samples from its surface to Earth.

An H3 rocket carrying the Martian Moons Exploration /MMX/ spacecraft was launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre, according to a live broadcast by JAXA.

If the mission proceeds as planned, at least 10 grams of material from Phobos will be brought back to Earth in 2031, while the first landing on its surface is scheduled for approximately two years from now.

JAXA plans for the spacecraft MMX to reach Mars in August or September 2027 and begin observations before a rover is deployed in late 2028 or early 2029.

The spacecraft is carrying a 25-kilogram rover named IDEFIX, which will be deployed on Phobos to study its surface for approximately 100 days.

The main spacecraft will then attempt to land on the surface to collect samples. The spacecraft is also expected to fly past Deimos, the smaller Martian moon, in 2030 before the return module begins its journey back to Earth.

No spacecraft has ever successfully landed on either Phobos or Deimos. The Soviet Union launched two probes in 1988, but neither managed to complete its mission because of the weak gravitational fields of these celestial bodies.