A Japanese spacecraft embarked on a journey towards Mars on Tuesday, aiming to explore the enigmatic moons of the red planet and collect samples. This five-year mission is a collaboration between five international space agencies, with the goal of landing a robotic prospector and a rover on Phobos, one of Mars’ two small moons.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) spearheaded this ambitious endeavor, launching the spacecraft from Tanegashima Island’s main spaceport. The successful separation of the spacecraft from the rocket’s upper stage an hour after launch was met with jubilation among officials and flight controllers.
While NASA and China have landed spacecraft on Mars before, no mission has ventured to Phobos or its companion moon Deimos, nor has anyone retrieved samples from Mars or its moons. If successful, the mission aims to bring back bits of dust, soil, and rocks from Phobos to Earth by 2031.
Phobos, a small, irregularly shaped moon measuring about 22 kilometers across, holds valuable clues about the origin of Mars’ moons and possibly other moons in the solar system. The mission, known as Martian Moons Exploration (MMX), is a $812 million endeavor featuring a five-ton spacecraft that is expected to reach Mars by late summer. The spacecraft will rendezvous with Phobos and deploy the French-German rover named Idefix to explore the moon’s surface.
The compact rover, no larger than a microwave oven, will navigate Phobos’ low-gravity environment for 100 days, acting as a reconnaissance scout for the subsequent sample collection mission. The lander, a stationary four-legged platform, will drill and gather at least 10 grams of material from Phobos before departing for Earth. The mission also includes flybys of Deimos before returning to Earth in 2031 for sample delivery.
The scientific community hopes that the samples from Phobos will shed light on the formation of Mars’ moons and provide insights into planetary and moon formation processes. Japan’s experience with asteroid sample returns positions it well for this mission, which represents a significant advancement in space exploration.