Japan launches mission to bring home a piece of the Martian moon Phobos
Summary
Japan launched a $578 million space mission called MMX to travel to Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, and return samples to Earth. The mission aims to study the moon’s origins and will take about five years to complete.Key Facts
- The MMX mission launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on a 207-foot H3 rocket.
- The spacecraft will travel for 10 months to reach Mars, then spend around three years studying Phobos and the smaller moon, Deimos.
- MMX aims to bring back the first samples from a moon of Mars.
- The spacecraft weighs about 9,900 pounds, with two-thirds of that weight being fuel.
- Japan’s space agency, JAXA, led the mission with contributions from NASA and European space agencies.
- Scientists want to learn if Phobos was once an asteroid captured by Mars’ gravity.
- MMX builds on Japan’s success with Hayabusa missions that returned asteroid samples to Earth.
- After arriving at Mars, MMX will leave its propulsion module behind and use its exploration module to land on Phobos.
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