JAXA and NASA aim to collect samples from Phobos and return them to Earth, which could reveal how moons and planets formed in the early solar system.
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01Summary
- 01The MMX mission is set to launch on Monday at 3:41 p.m. ET from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.
- 02JAXA leads the mission with NASA contributions including the Megane spectrograph and a pneumatic sampler for Phobos.
- 03The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Mars in August 2027, depart in November 2030, and return to Earth in July 2031.
- 04China's Tianwen-3, another Mars sample-return mission, is planned for a 2028 launch with a 2031 return.
- 05NASA's Osiris-Rex successfully returned samples from asteroid Bennu to Earth in 2023.
02Why it matters
The mission could answer how Phobos and Deimos formed, shedding light on whether Mars' moons were captured asteroids or collision debris, which in turn helps explain Earth's own moon formation and the delivery of water and organic compounds to the inner planets.
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