Japan aims for the moons of Mars

yahoo ^ | Sat, August 15, 2026 at 7:10 PM PDT | Kyoko HASEGAWA

[BenLurkin]

Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth, although a rival Chinese mission aims to make it back first.

The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), set to blast off from Tanegashima Space Center in the coming months, could also lay the groundwork for humans visiting the red planet.

The spacecraft, revealed to media last Thursday, will stay in Mars' orbit for around three years and will attempt to land on Phobos.

It will collect at least 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of material from the surface of Phobos, while the IDEFIX rover -- the French name for comic hero Asterix's dog -- will conduct surface observations.

The spacecraft will also observe Demios, the other of Mars' moons -- but without landing -- before a return capsule heads back to Earth to land in Australia in around 2031.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes that the mission will reveal how Mars and its moons formed, a key piece of knowledge in working out how the Solar System was born.

One theory for the origin of the Martian 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 from the outer Solar System that were captured by Mars' gravity.

...

JAXA said that the mission will also explore the possibility of using Phobos as a "natural space station" by establishing the technology required for a round trip to Mars -- something "essential for crewed Mars exploration".

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TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: deimos; japan; jaxa; mars; phobos

[TangoLimaSierra]

Why would they be returning such a small sample? There's very little gravity on Phobos.
Unless it's only going to do a bounce-and-grab and not actually land.

[Texas Eagle]

"This makes me very angry."

[fidelis]

"This makes me very angry."

"Very angry indeed!"

[Nateman]

On a geological time scale both of the Moons of Mars are temporary. They will eventually crash into the planet.

[Nateman]

solar eclipse viewed on Mars. The video was taken by one of the rovers on Mars. Pretty neat to see such a thing on another World?

[Jeff Vader]

I hope it doesn’t end up like Union Aerospace Corporation’s previous efforts did

[BigFreakinToad]

Awesome.

[GingisK]

They might find a Pak Protector named Jack Brennan.