MMX 2026: Mission to Phobos to grab Mars moon samples
Japan's MMX spacecraft will launch from Tanegashima on October 20 to collect 10g of dust from Mars' moon Phobos, returning to Woomera in 2031.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Japan is launching the MMX spacecraft on October 20 to sample Mars' moon Phobos.
- The mission aims to bring 10g of moon dust back to Earth laboratories by 2031.
- Data gathered will help solve how Mars moons formed and may contain Martian grains.
A Japanese-led space mission is preparing to launch a spacecraft toward Mars with the historic objective of retrieving material from the Martian moon Phobos and bringing it back for laboratory analysis on Earth for the very first time.
The spacecraft is scheduled to blast off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 04:41 local time on October 20, arriving in the Martian neighborhood by August 2027.
The Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission intends to resolve the long-standing mystery surrounding the formation of Phobos and Deimos, the two potato-shaped, tiny moons orbiting Mars in the inner Solar System alongside Earth's own Moon.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Upon arrival, the spacecraft will study Deimos before focusing on Phobos, where it will deploy a small rover to scout landing terrain—a feat never before attempted on such a tiny moon. The main spacecraft will then touch down, utilizing a robotic arm and samplers to harvest 10g of surface material, packed into a capsule returning to Australia's Woomera desert in 2031.
"I think this is an incredibly ambitious and fun mission,"
Sara Russell
Scientists hope the pristine samples will determine whether the moons formed from debris after an ancient impact or represent captured asteroids. Researchers also anticipate that the collected dust might contain stray grains originating directly from the Martian surface itself.
Bringing direct samples from the Martian system back to Earth remains one of space exploration's greatest goals. With NASA's Mars Sample Return effort currently stalled by funding cuts and China planning a 2028 attempt, the Japanese MMX mission represents a crucial milestone in planetary science.
Source: BBC Science & Environment
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