Japan Launches Mission to Grab Phobos Sample — SkimNews
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- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch the Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission on 20 October 2024 from Tanegashima Space Center to study and collect samples from Phobos.
- MMX spacecraft will arrive at Phobos in August 2027, deploy a rover to scout landing sites, and attempt to land on the low-gravity moon to collect up to 10 grams of surface material.
- Prof Sara Russell of the Natural History Museum, serving as deputy for sample analysis on MMX, stated the mission will resolve whether Phobos and Deimos formed from a giant impact on Mars or were captured asteroids.
- Dr Chrysa Avdellidou of Leicester University emphasized that even 10 grams of material can yield detailed scientific insights through analysis of individual grains' chemistry and mineral composition.
- Sample capsule from MMX is scheduled to return to Earth in 2031, landing in the Woomera desert in South Australia, marking the first return of material from Mars or its moons.
- NASA's Mars Sample Return mission has been effectively canceled due to funding cuts, making JAXA's MMX mission a critical alternative for obtaining pristine extraterrestrial samples from the Mars system.
Why it matters: Scientists gain a rare chance to analyze pristine material from the Mars system by 2031, as NASA’s own sample return effort stalls and China’s mission remains years away. The 10-gram Phobos sample could definitively reveal the moons’ origins and may contain Martian debris, offering indirect insight into Mars itself.
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