JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration mission is scheduled to launch from Tanegashima on Oct. 20, beginning a planned round trip to Phobos. Science reports that the $350 million spacecraft will travel to Mars, survey Phobos and attempt to collect material for return to Earth in 2031. NASA says it will assist throughout the mission.
The samples could help settle a basic question about Phobos and the smaller Martian moon, Deimos. Scientists are divided over whether they are captured asteroids or remnants of material blasted from Mars by an ancient impact. Mission researchers also expect Phobos’s surface to contain some debris ejected from Mars. Kiyoshi Kuramoto, who leads the mission’s international science team, told Science that perhaps 1% of the collected material could come from the planet itself.
After a roughly yearlong cruise, MMX is expected to enter a quasi-satellite orbit around Phobos. A laser altimeter will map the moon’s shape, while an infrared spectrometer will examine minerals and search for organic compounds and water. MEGANE, an instrument developed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will use gamma rays and neutrons to measure the surface’s elemental composition.
