Japan plans historic Mars moon mission to bring sa...

Summary

• Japan is preparing to launch an ambitious space mission to collect samples from one of Mars’s moons and return them to Earth, in a historic effort that could reveal new clues about the origins of the solar system and the ingredients that made life possible.
• After collecting the samples, the spacecraft will also observe Deimos, Mars’s smaller moon, before beginning its return journey to Earth.
• Landing and returning samples will present significant engineering challenges because Phobos has extremely weak gravity, while the spacecraft must also escape Mars’s powerful gravitational field to return to Earth.

AI Generated Summary

Japan is preparing to launch an ambitious space mission to collect samples from one of Mars’s moons and return them to Earth, in a historic effort that could reveal new clues about the origins of the solar system and the ingredients that made life possible.

The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is designed to become the first round-trip mission to the Martian system. The project brings together scientists and space agencies from Japan, the United States and Europe, alongside universities and technology companies.

According to JAXA, the H3 rocket carrying the spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Tuesday at 4:41am Japan time, or 12:41am Pakistan time.