OMM Newsroom
Japan has launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a mission to collect samples from one of Mars’ moons for the first time and bring them to Earth, aiming to gain clues about how the solar system formed.
Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe lifted off aboard an H3 rocket before dawn on Tuesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in the country’s southwest, AnewZ reports.
The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and return to Earth with samples in 2031. Scientists hope the material will help clarify how the planet’s two moons formed.
Samples to be collected from Phobos
Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons, orbits about 6,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface and completes three orbits around Mars each day. The origins and composition of both moons remain a mystery.
After observing Phobos from orbit, the probe will attempt to land on its surface. If successful, it will be the first spacecraft to collect samples from a moon orbiting a celestial body other than Earth.
A small rover named Idefix is scheduled to land on the moon’s surface in early 2029. The rover weighs 25 kilograms, but its effective weight will be just 15 grams in Phobos’ extremely weak gravity.
Previous attempts to collect samples from Phobos have failed. Russia’s Phobos-Grunt mission failed shortly after its launch in November 2011.
H3 rocket makes its first interplanetary flight
Tuesday’s launch also marks an important milestone for Japan’s main launch vehicle, the H3, which was used for an interplanetary mission for the first time.
The H3 encountered serious problems during its maiden flight in 2023, when its second-stage engine failed to ignite. Technical issues with the rocket delayed the MMX mission from its originally planned 2024 launch. The rocket has since completed several flights, most of them successful.
