Japan launches historic mission to bring back Mars moon samples

Japan launches historic mission to explore Mars' moons and bring back samples.

The full report

Japan has launched a five-year mission to explore Mars' mysterious moons, Phobos and Deimos, and bring back samples for the first time. The mission, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, aims to deliver dust, soil, and rocks to Earth in 2031.

The $578 million project, dubbed MMX for Martian Moons Exploration, features a 5-tonne spacecraft that will reach Mars by late next summer. The spacecraft will sync up with Phobos' tight orbit around the red planet before ejecting the French-German rover, Idefix.

Idefix, named after the white terrier in the Asterix comics, is a four-wheeled rover designed to right itself if it lands upside down. However, if it sinks into soft soil or gets wedged between rocks, its chances of success are uncertain.

The rover will move at a glacial 1 millimetre per second (0.04 inches per second) once its solar panels are deployed. The mission is a historic attempt to explore Phobos and Deimos, with no previous spacecraft having ventured onto the moons.

Japan has an edge going into the mission, with two asteroid sample returns already under its belt. The mission aims to shed light on how the moons formed and the origins of life, with the potential to explain how Mars' moons – and possibly moons elsewhere – came to be.