Japan’s mission to Phobos will also bring home a sample by 2029

The Japanese space agency (JAXA) is preparing for its mission to explore the Martian moons (MMX), with the intention of bringing back to Earth a sample of the moon from Mars Phobos by 2029. Scientists on the mission hope to find clues to the origins of Mars two moons, as well as Mars itself, and possibly even traces of past life.

“We believe that the Martian moon, Phobos, is laden with material extracted from Mars during meteorite impacts,” the MMX team said. said on Twitter. “By collecting this sample of Phobos, MMX will help investigate traces of Martian life and the new era of Martian habitability exploration in the 2020s will begin.”

MMX currently has a scheduled launch in 2024, with the spacecraft reaching the Martian system by 2025, about a year after leaving Earth. Current plans for the mission include an orbiter, a lander that lands on Phobos with sample collection and return capability, and possibly even a rover.

The orbiter will be placed in a so-called quasi-satellite orbit (QSO) around Phobos, to collect scientific data. After orbital and in situ observations, and sample collection, the lander will fly back to Earth with the sample material collected at Phobos. Current plans are for the lander to collect 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of soil. In a press briefing this week, and reported by The Associated Press, JAXA scientists said that about 0.1% of the surface soil on Phobos came from Mars, and 10 grams could contain around 30 granules, according to the consistency of the soil.

The team says their exploration of Martian moons will help improve technology for future exploration of planets and satellites. They say their mission will contribute to advances, for example, in the technology required to fly back and forth between Earth and Mars, improved sampling techniques, and optimal communication technology using the Deep Space Network’s ground stations.

The objectives of the MMX mission are:

• Determine whether the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, are captured asteroids or fragments that merged after a giant impact with Mars, and gain new insight into the process of formation of Mars and terrestrial planets.
• Clarify the mechanisms controlling the evolution of the surface of Martian moons and Mars, and acquire new knowledge about the history of the Martian sphere, including that of the Martian moons.

Sending a mission to the moons of Mars has long been on the wish list of mission planners and space enthusiasts, and in recent years, JAXA engineers and scientists have been working on it. development of such a mission.

Many scientists say that studying and landing on the moons of Mars would be the best thing to do before going to Mars itself. Phobos and Deimos were considered places of a possible human base which would allow easier access to Mars than going directly to the red planet, especially for the first human missions to the Martian system.

“Humans can realistically explore the surfaces of only a few objects and Phobos and Deimos are on that list,” NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green said in 2020. “Their position in orbit around Mars can make it happen. a prime target for humans to visit before reaching the surface of the Red Planet, but that will only be possible after the results of the MMX mission are complete. ”

The mission will have an international contribution, equipped with eleven instruments, four of which will be provided by international partners from NASA (USA), ESA (Europe), CNES (France) and DLR (Germany).

Instruments built by JAXA include a telescopic (narrow angle) camera to observe detailed terrain, the wide angle camera to identify hydrated minerals and organic matter, LIDAR laser altimeter, dust monitor and spectrum analyzer. mass, to study the ion charge around the moons, the sampling device and the sample return capsule, and a radiation environment monitor.

NASA is committed to providing a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer to examine the elements that make up Martian moons, as well as a pneumatic sampling device. CNES is building a near infrared spectrometer capable of identifying mineral composition and working with DLR to design the rover, which could explore the surface of Phobos. ESA is listed as aiding deep space communication equipment.

The quick turnaround time for returning samples from MMX would put Japan ahead of the United States and China to bring back samples from the Martian system, even if they started later, said Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, MMX project manager. , at this week’s press conference.

A new article published by the JAXA Institute for Space and Astronautics Research suggests that if Mars were once a habitable planet, with water on the surface, the water could have been blown into space by gigantic storms of Martian dust. They say the material MMX collects from Phobos will help confirm whether this theory might be true.

Further reading:
MMX website
Associated press article