What Happened
Unmanned Probe Aims to Unlock Solar System Secrets
Japan is set to launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, a historic round-trip journey to Mars’s moon Phobos, with the goal of retrieving samples that could help unlock the secrets of the Solar System and life on Earth. The unmanned probe, developed in collaboration with US and European space agencies, is scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center and will orbit Phobos for up to three years before landing and collecting samples. The mission, reported by the Bangkok Post, aims to shed light on the formation of the Martian moons and the transport of materials that may have played a key role in making the rocky planets habitable.