A Japanese spacecraft was launched toward Mars on Tuesday in a groundbreaking mission to investigate its enigmatic moons and retrieve samples. This five-year endeavor involves collaboration between five of the world’s space agencies aiming to land a robotic prospector and a rover on Phobos, one of Mars’s two diminutive moons.
Led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the spacecraft was launched from Tanegashima Island’s main spaceport before dawn. The successful separation of the spacecraft from the rocket’s upper stage was confirmed an hour later, prompting jubilation among flight controllers.
While NASA and China have previously landed spacecraft on Mars, no mission has ventured to Phobos or its companion Deimos, nor retrieved samples from Mars or its moons. If the mission succeeds, samples comprising dust, soil, and rocks from Phobos will reach Earth in 2031.
Named MMX (Martian Moons Exploration), this $812 million mission involves a sizeable five-tonne spacecraft set to reach Mars by late next summer. It will rendezvous with Phobos and deploy the French-German rover, Idefix, named after a character from the Asterix comics.
The microwave-sized rover, Idefix, is designed to self-right upon landing and will explore Phobos for 100 days. Its primary role is to assess the terrain for the subsequent descent of the mothership, a stationary lander, scheduled to collect samples in late 2028 or 2029.
The lander will spend two hours on Phobos, collecting at least 10 grams of material before departing for Earth in 2030. The mission also includes flybys of Deimos to study the smaller moon.
By analyzing Mars’s moons, scientists aim to understand their formation, potentially shedding light on the origins of these moons and planetary formation processes. The insights gained from the samples could provide valuable information on the history of Mars and the possibility of life there.
This mission represents a significant opportunity for scientific discovery, with Japan, China, and NASA all pursuing sample return missions from the Martian system. The collaborative effort involves substantial investments from each participating space agency.