NASA Briefing to Highlight Contributions to Martian Moons Mission

NASA will host a media teleconference on Thursday, October 15 at 4 p.m. EDT to discuss its role in Japan's upcoming Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The mission is set to launch from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on Monday, October 19 at 4 p.m. EDT (Tuesday, October 20 at 4 p.m. JST).

During the briefing, NASA officials Lindsay Hays, Tom Statler, David Lawrence and Kris Zacny will provide an overview of the mission and detail the agency's contributions. Hays is the acting director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, Statler is the MMX program executive and scientist, Lawrence is the principal investigator for the MEGANE instrument, and Zacny is the vice president of Blue Origin's Honeybee Robotics.

The MMX spacecraft, developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will arrive at Mars in August 2027 to study the Red Planet's two moons, Phobos and Deimos. It will then collect a sample from Phobos' surface, aiming to deliver it back to Earth by 2031. NASA's involvement includes providing the MEGANE gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, the spacecraft's surface sampler mechanism, and support for communications and navigation via its Deep Space Network. The agency also funded U.S. scientists participating on the science team.

MEGANE was developed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, while Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, created the pneumatic sampler mechanism. NASA's support for the MMX mission comes from its Discovery Program, which offers regular flight opportunities for focused planetary science investigations. The Discovery Program is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama for the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.