Japan probe on its way to Mars moon
The spacecraft is due to arrive near Mars around August next year, where it will orbit one of its moons, Phobos.
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TOKYO: A Japanese spacecraft was on its way to one of Mars's moons on Tuesday (Oct 20) on a world-first mission to retrieve samples, potentially helping unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth.
The flagship H3 rocket carrying the unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe blasted off into a pitch-black sky from the Tanegashima Space Center at 4.41am, according to a livestream broadcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Over an hour later, JAXA announced via the live broadcast that the probe had successfully separated from the H3 and was "beginning its journey toward the Martian system".
"I'd dreamt of this day, so I'm incredibly happy," said JAXA scientist Mari Aida. "Right now I feel really relieved."
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Following the separation, JAXA said it received signals from the spacecraft as expected, confirming it was operating normally.
Despite the early hour in Japan, thousands of people tuned into the livestream, posting messages of encouragement.
The spacecraft is due to arrive near Mars around August next year, where it will orbit one of its moons, Phobos.
A French-German rover dubbed IDEFIX - the French name for the comic hero Asterix's dog - will be the first vehicle to travel across Phobos, conducting surface observations aimed at ensuring a safe landing.
Once MMX arrives on Phobos, it will collect at least 10g (0.35 ounces) of material from the surface during its planned three years in the Red Planet's vicinity.
The mission - which aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region - is a collaboration with US and European space agencies, as well as numerous universities and tech companies.
"PARADIGM-SHIFTING SCIENCE"
Scientists hope it will help lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration.
"The samples from MMX will bring forth paradigm-shifting science on the Mars system for generations to come, especially as NASA prepares to send the first humans to Mars," Nicky Fox, administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a message broadcast on the JAXA livestream.
JAXA hopes the mission will reveal how Mars and its two moons formed, a key piece of knowledge in working out how the Solar System was born.
One theory for the origin of the moons - the "giant impact" hypothesis - is that they formed after a celestial body collided with Mars.
The "capture" hypothesis, meanwhile, postulates that the moons are asteroids pulled in by Mars's gravity.
Determining which theory is correct will help reveal "how a habitable environment for life might have arisen on the terrestrial planets", JAXA said, referring to the four rocky worlds closest to the Sun - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
Astrobiologist David Flannery told CNA's Asia First that uncovering the origins of Mars' moons could offer scientists valuable clues about the origins of life.
“Understanding the origins will help us understand the building blocks of life that we have on Earth … things like water and organic material, and how they were transported through the early solar system,” said the associate professor from the Queensland University of Technology's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
While Phobos is easier to reach than Mars' surface because of its smaller size and weaker gravity, bringing samples back to Earth remains a complex undertaking, Flannery noted.
“If we compare it to a sample return from Earth's moon, which has been done, Mars is much further away. It’s much more complicated in terms of arriving and orbiting the moons of Mars because they're so small,” he said.
Mars is about 225 million kilometres from Earth on average, compared with roughly 384,400km between Earth and the Moon.
“The communication is also more difficult. We have almost real-time communication with our own moon, whereas, depending on the time of year, Mars could be … on the other side of the Sun, making communication impossible for some period of time,” added Flannery.
“So, spacecraft operating in the Martian system require a much higher degree of autonomy.”
RACE TO BRING BACK MARS SAMPLES
JAXA said the mission will also explore the possibility of using Phobos as a "natural space station" by establishing the requirements for a round trip - something "essential for crewed Mars exploration".
It will also observe the planet's other moon, Deimos, although it will not land on it.
US and Chinese space agencies have also been vying to be the first to return rock samples from the surface of Mars back to Earth.
NASA's Perseverance rover, which has been roaming across Mars since 2021, has already collected samples.
The return mission, however, was effectively cancelled by the administration of President Donald Trump following a vote by Congress in January.
China's Tianwen-3 spacecraft is scheduled for launch around 2028 and hopes to return Mars samples to Earth as early as 2031 - potentially before the Japanese mission's return.
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