NASA is helping JAXA’s MMX mission study Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos, with a plan to bring a Phobos sample back to Earth in 2031.
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01Summary
- 01The MMX spacecraft is due to launch from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 3:41 p.m. EDT on Monday, 19 October.
- 02NASA is contributing the MEGANE spectrograph, the P-Sampler technology demonstration, Deep Space Network communications and navigation support, and funding for US scientists on the mission.
- 03The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in August 2027, survey Phobos, collect a surface sample no earlier than December 2028, and return it to Earth in 2031.
- 04NASA will receive and curate about 15% of the returned sample at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
- 05Scientists hope the data will show whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or remnants of a giant impact on Mars.
02Why it matters
The mission could settle a long-running question about how Mars’ moons formed and shed light on the early solar system. The returned sample will also be available for research for decades.
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