Japan's MMX mission aims to swipe soil samples from Mars's moon Phobos - Phys.org
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The MMX spacecraft will enter Martian orbit before attempting to collect samples from Phobos. Credit: Jaxa
A Japanese space mission is about to launch towards Mars. But it will not land on the planet itself. Instead, the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission will focus on Phobos, the bigger of Mars's two small moons.
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Japan’s MMX mission aims to swipe soil samples from Mars’ moon Phobos - The Conversation
A Japanese space mission is about to launch towards Mars. But it will not land on the planet itself. Instead, the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission will focus on Phobos, the bigger of Mars’s two small moons. The mission will lift off on Monday October 19 at 20:41 BST on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center, in the south of Japan.
How did Mars get its moons? Japan's MMX space mission aims to solve the puzzle - Phys.org
Phobos is dominated by Stickney crater, a 9km (5.6-mile) bowl visible on the right. The Earth got its moon when a small planet collided with our planet more than 4 billion years ago. This impact hurled molten rock into space, which eventually coalesced to form the satellite we can see every night from across our planet. The red planet has two small, irregularly shaped moons called Phobos and Deimos. There are several theories on how these natural satellites formed, but no clear front-runner. Soon, a Japanese-led space mission called Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) will begin its hunt for the answer. 19, MMX is due to lift off on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
How did Mars get its moons? Japan’s MMX space mission aims to solve the puzzle - The Conversation
The Earth got its Moon when a celestial object collided with our planet more than four billion years ago. This impact hurled molten rock into space, which eventually coalesced to form the satellite we can see every night from across our planet. But what of our neighbour, Mars? The red planet has two small, irregularly shaped moons called Phobos and Deimos. There are several theories on how these natural satellites formed, but no clear front-runner. Soon, a Japanese-led space mission called Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) will begin its hunt for the answer.
Japan prepares to launch sample return mission to Phobos - Astronomy.com
The MMX spacecraft fires its thrusters during Mars orbit insertion in this artist’s rendering. Launching Oct. 19, the mission is headed to Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons, to survey it and return a small sample of its regolith. Credit: JAXA The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is targeting Oct. 19 for the launch of a first-of-its-kind sample return mission to the martian moon Phobos.
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