Japan to Launch Martian Moon Sample-Return Mission on Tuesday
JAXA's MMX probe will attempt the first landing on Phobos and carry surface material back to Earth.
A Japanese mission designed to land on the Martian moon Phobos and bring surface samples back to Earth is scheduled to lift off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Tuesday at around 4:41 a.m. Japan time, or 7:41 p.m. Monday UTC.
The Martian Moons eXploration mission, known as MMX, will fly on an H3 rocket and is intended to become the first in the world to land on Phobos, collect samples from its surface, and deliver them to Earth.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, led development of the three-module mission. Its total development cost is 55.3 billion yen, roughly 350 million dollars.
The exploration module carries four landing legs designed for touchdown on Phobos, which has only about one-2,000th of Earth's gravity.
It also carries sampling equipment, observation instruments, and two super hi-vision cameras jointly developed by NHK and JAXA.
MMX is expected to reach the vicinity of Mars about one year after launch and then spend three years conducting observations.
The exploration module is scheduled to land on Phobos and collect at least 10 grams of sample material from the moon's surface layer at a depth of 2 centimeters or more.
The return module will likely deliver the samples to Earth during the fiscal year that ends in March 2032.
JAXA hopes the mission will help develop techniques necessary to explore the Martian sphere and shed more light on the origin of Phobos.
Reporting by NHK. Read the original report: Japan to launch Martian moon mission on Tuesday.
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