Phobos sample return mission launches as JAXA leads five-agency Mars moons study

A Japanese spacecraft lifted off on Tuesday on a rare mission to Mars’s moons. The project aims to land on Phobos and return samples to Earth. Five space agencies are working together on the five-year effort. If the plan works, material from Phobos is expected to reach Earth in 2031.

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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is leading the mission, called MMX for Martian Moons Exploration. The spacecraft launched before dawn from Tanegashima Island. NASA has landed nine missions on Mars in 50 years, and China landed in 2021. No mission has ever landed on Phobos or Deimos.

Martian Moons Exploration mission targets Phobos samples

Scientists want Phobos dust, soil and rocks to study how Mars’s moons formed. Phobos is a lumpy, potato-like body about 22 kilometres across. Researchers think the moons formed after a huge impact on Mars. Another theory says the moons are captured asteroids held by Mars’s gravity.

The mission hopes to collect at least one-third of an ounce, or 10 grams, from Phobos. Scientists also expect Mars material to be mixed into Phobos surface dust. That could make the samples a "two-for-one\" for researchers. \"Theres a lot of adrenaline and a lot of excitement and a lot of wow, said NASA astrophysicist Tom Statler, whos involved with the project.\"

The USD 578 million MMX mission uses a 5-ton spacecraft due to reach Mars by late next summer. It will match Phobos’s close orbit around Mars. Later, it will release a small rover built by France and Germany. The rover is named Idefix, after the white terrier in the Asterix comics.

Martian Moons Exploration rover Idefix plans 100-day scout

Idefix is about the size of a microwave oven and will land on Phobos alone. It is expected to bounce for several minutes in very low gravity. The rover has four wheels and can flip itself upright. \"All bets are off, though, if it sinks into soft soil or gets wedged between rocks, said the French Space Agencys Julien Baroukh.\"

Baroukh said movement will be extremely slow after deployment. \"Once the rovers solar panels are deployed, the vehicle can no longer right itself, he added, which is why it will move at a glacial 1 millimetre per second.\" The rover will roam for about 100 days. It will check for safer ground for the lander.

Japanese flight controllers want to avoid powdery soil and rough areas during landing. The main craft will act as a four-legged stationary lander. It is expected to descend in late 2028 or 2029. It will spend about two hours on Phobos, drilling and vacuuming up the target sample mass.

Martian Moons Exploration timeline includes Deimos flybys and 2031 return

After the Phobos work, the spacecraft will study Deimos during several flybys. It will then leave the Mars region in 2030. The sample capsule is planned to land in the Australian desert in 2031. This would be the first return of material from the Martian system. \"It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.\"

Several past missions show the risk involved in such attempts. Russia failed in all three Phobos missions and in many other Mars efforts. Japan’s only other Mars mission did not achieve orbit around Mars. Even NASA has had setbacks while searching for signs of past life on Mars.

Scientists said Phobos and Deimos could help explain moon formation across the Solar System. \"The findings will help shape future Mars missions, including those by astronauts, said NASAs acting planetary science director Lindsay Hays.\" \"We are part of the first sample return mission from the Martian system, said the German Space Agencys rover chief Markus Grebenstein.\"

Other countries are also planning to bring back Mars samples. China plans a Mars sample return launch in 2028. NASA is still debating how to retrieve more than 30 tubes gathered by Perseverance. Japan and China are both aiming for 2031 returns. Funding includes Japan at USD 350 million and NASA at USD 87 million.

Further contributions come from Europe, with France at about USD 68 million. Germany is putting in about USD 56 million for the work. The European Space Agency is contributing some USD 17 million. The mission now moves into its long cruise and arrival phase. Engineers will track performance until Mars approach next year.

With inputs from PTI