Japan launches first mission to bring back samples from a Martian moon
Japan's MMX probe lifts off tonight at 19:41 UTC, bound for Phobos. It reaches Mars in 2027 and will return at least 10 grams of soil in 2031 to reveal how Mars got its moons.
Tonight at 19:41 UTC (3:41 pm EDT), an H3 rocket lifts off from Tanegashima, in southern Japan, carrying the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) probe. Its target: Phobos, the larger of Mars’s two moons.
Watch it live
JAXA is streaming the launch on its YouTube channel from 18:45 UTC (2:45 pm EDT), about an hour before liftoff: JAXA’s official livestream.
The plan
- August 2027: arrives at Mars and, a month later, settles in next to Phobos.
- About 18 months studying Phobos and Deimos, the other moon, up close.
- 2029: drops off the small Idefix rover, built by France’s and Germany’s space agencies.
- 2030: lands on Phobos and collects at least 10 grams of soil.
- 2031: the sample capsule lands on Earth.
Why Phobos
No one knows yet how Mars got its moons: captured asteroids, or debris from a giant impact on Mars. Phobos samples could settle it, and tell us a lot about how rocky planets, Earth included, came to be.
A team effort
The mission is Japanese, with help from NASA and the French (CNES) and German (DLR) space agencies. Japan has already brought back samples from two asteroids with Hayabusa and Hayabusa2.
Why it matters
It will be the first time humanity brings home a piece of another planet’s moon.
