First round trip to the Mars system: Japan's MMX probe set to launch for Phobos
Japan's space agency JAXA plans to launch the MMX probe on Monday at 1941 GMT. It aims to bring at least 10 grams of material from the Martian moon Phobos back to Earth, carrying a French-German rover.
Symbolic image · Photo: European Space Agency / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo (cropped and resized)
Japan is preparing to launch a mission designed to return the first samples from the Mars system to Earth. An H3 rocket is scheduled to lift the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 4:41 a.m. local time on Tuesday (1941 GMT Monday), according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Space.com reported the launch window runs through Nov. 7. "This is the first round trip to the Martian system," project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu told AFP.
According to the European Space Agency, MMX is due to reach Mars orbit in August 2027 and begin circling Phobos in September 2027. The 25-kilogram French-German rover Idefix is to be released in early 2029 to scout the landing site and study the surface. The spacecraft itself is to land in 2030 and collect at least 10 grams of material, with the return capsule due to touch down in Australia in 2031. MMX will observe the second moon, Deimos, only remotely.
Partners alongside JAXA include NASA, France's CNES, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and ESA. Scientists hope to determine whether Phobos and Deimos formed from debris after a giant impact on early Mars or are captured asteroids. The launch was originally planned for 2024 but was postponed because of problems with the H3 rocket.