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Japan is reportedly planning to launch a spacecraft on the world's first mission to bring back samples from Phobos, one of the two small moons orbiting Mars.
When will Japan launched the mission?
The mission, expected to take five years, will provide clues to how Phobos and its smaller sibling Deimos formed, and even shed light on the origins of life in the solar system.
As reported by the Guardian, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) is aiming to launch the spacecraft on Tuesday on a new Japanese mainstay H3 rocket.
Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, project manager for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, said samples from Phobos would provide useful data for scientists to consider using a Martian moon as a base for a future manned mission to the planet.
"Despite their potential importance, Martian moons have never been fully investigated," Kawakatsu said. "They are known as the most important unclimbed mountains in the solar system."
Japan is leading an international mission, which includes equipment and communications support from NASA and other national space agencies.
Since the 1960s, dozens of missions have been sent to Mars, but its moons largely remain a mystery. Multiple Russian attempts to land on Phobos, including one launched in 2011, have failed.
Behind Phobos and Deimos' names
Phobos and Deimos take their names from the Greek mythological personifications of fear and terror, sons of the war god Ares, whose Roman counterpart is Mars.
Why Phobos is being studied?
Scientists chose to collect samples from Phobos mainly because the moon is closer to Mars than Deimos, and therefore may have more information about the planet.
Material from Mars is expected to make up about 0.1% of the material collected from Phobos, Jaxa officials noted.
Phobos is about 27 kilometres in diameter at its widest point, and orbits Mars at a distance of about 6,000 kilometres three times a day.
Samples from Phobos could also shed light on the origin of Deimos as the two moons were believed to have similar roots, Kuramoto said.
Details about the mission
After launching on the H3 rocket, the spacecraft will arrive at the Mars region in around August 2027. It will then fly near and around Phobos for three years to collect data and samples from the moon, before returning home in 2031.
MMX is made up of three modules, for propulsion, exploration and return. Only the third module will return home with the samples.
