{
  "id": 15401750,
  "title": "The MMX mission launches to Mars’ moons on Monday",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/the-mmx-mission-launches-to-mars-moons-on-monday",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-18T11:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "EarthSky",
    "slug": "earthsky",
    "url": "https://earthsky.org/space/mmx-mission-mars-moons-phobos-deimos/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Japan plans to launch its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos on October 19. The spacecraft will gather a soil sample from Phobos and return it to Earth in 2031. The mission is modeled after the successful Hayabusa2 mission, which visited asteroid Ryugu and returned samples to Earth. Phobos, meaning fear in Latin, and Deimos, meaning terror, are the only two known moons of Mars.",
  "summary": "The MMX mission launches October 19 to Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos. It will collect a sample from Phobos and return it to Earth in 2031. The post The MMX mission launches to Mars’ moons on Monday first appeared on EarthSky .",
  "key_points": [
    "Japan plans to launch MMX mission on October 19",
    "MMX will collect Phobos soil sample and return to Earth in 2031",
    "Mission modeled after successful Hayabusa2 asteroid mission"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}