Japan to launch world's first sample-return mission to a Martian moon on Tuesday — targeting Phobos and Deimos
According to The Guardian, NHK and the Associated Press, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission on Tuesday, October 20 from the Tanegashima Space Center. MMX aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from Phobos, Mars’ largest moon, and bring the samples back to Earth within five years. This is the first attempt in history to retrieve samples from a Martian moon, and the probe will also make the first-ever close flyby of the smaller Deimos. The mission is led by Japan with instrument and deep-space communications support from the European Space Agency and NASA, and is widely seen as the next step in Japan’s deep-space sampling capability after Hayabusa2.