Japan to launch historic round-trip mission to Mars moon

Japanese scientists are gearing up for a groundbreaking mission to Mars's moons, with the goal of collecting samples that could unravel the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, a joint effort involving the US, European space agencies and various universities and tech companies, could also pave the way for future human exploration of the Red Planet.

The mission's flagship H3 rocket is scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Tuesday at 4:41 am (00:41 am PKT), according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The spacecraft will reach Mars one year later, where it will orbit Phobos, one of the Martian moons, for up to three years before landing and gathering at least 10 grams of material from its surface.

A rover called IDEFIX, named after the French comic hero Asterix's dog, will carry out surface observations to ensure a safe landing. MMX's project manager, Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, emphasized that the mission will be the first time samples have been retrieved from Phobos, making it a historic first and a crucial step towards a round trip to the Martian system.

Beyond its primary objective, MMX will also investigate the possibility of using Phobos as a "natural space station" to facilitate a round trip to Mars, a concept essential for crewed Mars exploration. The mission will observe the Red Planet's moon Deimos, though it won't land on it, before returning to Earth. JAXA hopes the mission will shed light on the formation of Mars and its moons, a key piece of knowledge in understanding how the solar system was born.

The "giant impact" hypothesis suggests the moons formed after a celestial body collided with Mars, while the "capture" hypothesis posits that the moons are asteroids captured by Mars's gravity. Determining which theory is correct could reveal how a habitable environment for life might have emerged on terrestrial planets, potentially offering clues to the origins of life itself.

MMX is a collaboration between France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), Germany's Aerospace Centre (DLR), NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and around 20 universities and tech companies. Developing the spacecraft's landing legs proved particularly challenging due to Phobos's extremely weak gravity. Japan's past unmanned missions, such as the Hayabusa-2 probe, which returned asteroid samples to Earth in 2020, offer valuable experience for MMX.

However, this mission presents a unique challenge, as Japan will have to travel deep into the "gravity well" of Mars to return samples, a feat not encountered in previous asteroid missions. China and the US are also vying to be the first to bring back Mars samples, with China's Tianwen-3 spacecraft slated for launch around 2028 with the aim of returning samples as early as 2031.