What Happened
Groundbreaking Sample-Return Attempt Underway to Uncover Martian Secrets
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission has launched from Tanegashima Space Center, marking a historic attempt to return samples from Mars’ moon Phobos. The mission, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will study Phobos and Deimos over three years, with the goal of shedding light on the origins of the Martian moons. The spacecraft carries the IDEFIX rover, a joint effort of the space agencies of France and Germany, and will perform two separate touchdowns on Phobos to collect samples. The mission is an international effort, with contributions from NASA and the European Space Agency, and was first reported by Unknown Source.