5 questions about Japan’s mission to bring back samples from Phobos

1. What is Japan launching, and what is it trying to do?

Japan is launching a spacecraft on the world’s first mission to bring back samples from Phobos, one of Mars’ two small, potato-shaped moons. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is sending the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe on a new H-3 rocket, with the mission expected to take five years.

2. Why are scientists interested in Phobos?

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Scientists hope the samples will reveal how Phobos and its smaller sibling Deimos formed. Some believe the moons are debris from a large object that crashed into Mars, while others think they are captured asteroids. Phobos was chosen because it is closer to Mars and may hold more information about the planet, with Martian material expected to make up about 0.1% of what is collected.

3. Who is involved in the mission?

Japan leads the international effort, which includes equipment and communications support from NASA and other space agencies. The spacecraft will carry 13 instruments, including a French-German rover called Idefix, a NASA sampling device and gamma-ray instrument, and a European Space Agency deep space communication device.

4. How will the spacecraft collect the samples, and what makes it difficult?

After the rover explores the surface to help pick a smooth, level landing site, MMX will make two sampling attempts using NASA’s pressurized-gas device and JAXA’s coring method. The goal is at least 0.35 ounces of soil, collected within two hours of landing. The task is challenging because Phobos is pockmarked and has just one two-thousandth of Earth’s gravity, so the lander has shock-absorbing four-legged gear to limit bouncing.

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5. What happens next, and why does it matter?

The spacecraft is due to reach the Mars region around August 2027, spend three years around Phobos and return to Earth in 2031, with the samples landing in Australia before going to Japan. The mission comes as the United States, China and others consider sending astronauts to Mars, and project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu said the samples could help scientists weigh using a Martian moon as a base for a future manned mission.

For more on this report, read “Japan to launch spacecraft on a mission to get samples from a Martian moon” from The Associated Press, published on The Washington Times.

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