The Japanese Space Agency has launched the Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, a spacecraft designed to collect samples from Phobos, one of Mars’s two small moons. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Phobos in August 2027. If successful, the mission will mark the first time material has been returned from Mars or its moons for analysis in Earth laboratories.
The MMX mission plans to study both of Mars’s moons, Deimos and Phobos, which are among only three moons in the inner Solar System. These celestial bodies are notably small and irregularly shaped; Phobos measures approximately 20 kilometers across while Deimos is about 10 kilometers in diameter. The spacecraft will deploy a small rover to scout landing sites, though scientists note this presents significant challenges due to the weak gravity environment near such small bodies positioned near Mars’s much stronger gravitational field.
Once positioned on Phobos’s surface, the spacecraft will use a robotic arm and samplers to collect approximately 10 grams of moon dust. This material will be sealed in a capsule and returned to Earth in 2031, landing in the Woomera desert of South Australia. Scientists emphasize that even this small quantity of pristine material will enable detailed chemical and mineral analysis.
The primary objective of the mission is to resolve competing scientific theories about Phobos and Deimos’s origins. One hypothesis suggests the moons formed from debris created by a space rock impact on Mars early in planetary history. The alternative theory proposes the moons are captured asteroids from the outer Solar System. Additionally, scientists hope the samples may contain grains of Mars itself, as impacts on Mars’s surface could have implanted material onto nearby Phobos.
This mission comes as other space agencies pursue similar objectives. China is planning its own Mars sampling mission, scheduled to launch in 2028 with an expected return of Martian material in 2031. Meanwhile, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been collecting samples on Mars since 2021, though a planned sample return mission has faced cancellation following congressional funding decisions.
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