Mission set to blast off for Mars to grab a piece of its moon

A space mission is set to launch from Japan on Monday, aiming to retrieve a sample from Mars moon Phobos and return it to Earth. This would be the first time any sample from Mars or its moons has been analyzed in labs on our planet. The Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, led by the Japanese Space Agency, is expected to arrive at Phobos in August 2027. The mission's deputy for sample analysis, Prof Sara Russell, from the Natural History Museum, describes the mission as both ambitious and exciting.

Phobos and its smaller companion Deimos are the only three moons in the inner Solar System, with Phobos being about 20km wide, and Deimos around 10km. Neither moon has much gravity, which makes landing a rover on the small surface a challenging endeavor. The MMX spacecraft will land a rover to explore Phobos' terrain and later, deploy samplers to collect moon dust. This sample, weighing just 10g, will return to Earth in 2031, landing in South Australia's Woomera desert.

Scientists believe the sample could provide crucial insights into the origins of Mars' moons. They theorize that either an early space rock impacted Mars, creating Phobos and Deimos from the debris, or the moons are ancient asteroids captured by Mars' gravity. The sample analysis will help distinguish between these two hypotheses. Interestingly, if the material contains grains from Mars itself, it could offer direct information about the planet's composition and history.

The MMX mission's success could potentially rival China's Mars sampling mission, scheduled to launch in 2028. While we currently possess some Martian meteorites on Earth, they are highly contaminated and not ideal for direct study. The MMX mission's pristine sample, if successful, would be a game-changer in our understanding of Mars and its moons.