Japan has launched the MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) spacecraft, a mission aimed at returning samples from Phobos, one of Mars's moons. The mission will culminate in 2029 with up to two landing attempts on Phobos's surface to collect and bring back material.
Background
Japan's MMX mission follows in the footsteps of previous sample-return missions like OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2, aiming to study the origin of Mars's moons and the Red Planet itself.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Oct 20, 2026 at 01:59 PM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10