Japan set to launch round-trip probe to Mars moon Phobos
The H3 rocket carrying the MMX probe is scheduled to lift off from Tanegashima on Tuesday at 4.41am, JAXA said…
Japan is preparing to send a probe to the moons of Mars and bring samples back, according to CNA. The H3 rocket carrying the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe is scheduled to lift off from the Tanegashima Space Center on Tuesday at 4.41am, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said. If it succeeds, the project would be the first journey to the Martian region and back.
What the probe will do
Around August next year, the craft is expected to reach the vicinity of the red planet. It will orbit Phobos, land, and gather at least 10g of surface material over three years in the Martian sphere. Before the landing, a rover called IDEFIX will study the surface to help make the touchdown safe. The probe will also observe Deimos, the other moon, without landing on it, then head back to Earth.
MMX's project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu told AFP that sampling Phobos is a world first, and that it also means this is the first round trip to the Martian system.
Why scientists want the samples
The mission is meant to shed light on the formation of Mars and its pair of moons, JAXA says. One idea, the "giant impact" hypothesis, says a celestial body hit Mars and created the moons. The "capture" hypothesis says the moons are asteroids pulled in by Mars's gravity. JAXA said settling the question will help show "how a habitable environment for life might have arisen on the terrestrial planets".
French astrophysicist Patrick Michel, who works on IDEFIX, told AFP that if Phobos and Deimos are remnants of early delivery systems, they may hold clues to the transport of materials key to the emergence of life on rocky planets. If Phobos came into being through a collision, JAXA scientists say its rocks and sand could provide more diverse samples than the surface of Mars itself.
JAXA said the mission will also look at whether Phobos could serve as a "natural space station", by working out what a round trip to Mars requires, which it called "essential for crewed Mars exploration".
Partners and challenges
About 20 universities and tech companies take part as well, alongside France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
JAXA scientists say building the landing legs was especially hard because gravity on Phobos is extremely weak. According to Kawakatsu, the craft has to travel very close to Mars and return, so it must break free of the planet's strong pull. The moon Phobos circles roughly 6,000km over the surface of Mars.
Japan has sample-return experience: Hayabusa-2 brought back 5.4g of rock and dust from an asteroid in 2020.
Other Mars sample plans
Potentially ahead of MMX's return, China has announced that Tianwen-3 is slated to lift off around 2028, with hopes of bringing Mars samples back as early as 2031.
