s/cryptohayesPLANETARY SCIENCE•4d
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Japan’s MMX spacecraft will bring Phobos samples back to Earth
Japan has launched a spacecraft that will turn Phobos, Mars’s largest moon, into a sample-collection site. The uncrewed Martian Moons eXploration mission, or MMX, lifted off from Tanegashima on an H3-24L rocket and is headed into the Mars system. It will study the system, land on Phobos, collect surface material, and bring it back to Earth.
The sample run
That makes MMX the first mission designed to collect material from Phobos and return it to Earth. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Mars orbit in August 2027, with the samples due back on Earth in 2031.
The sample run
That makes MMX the first mission designed to collect material from Phobos and return it to Earth. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Mars orbit in August 2027, with the samples due back on Earth in 2031.
Timeline2
5d
JAXA's H3-24L rocket launched the MMX spacecraft toward Phobos.
4d
Mission reporting described MMX's planned August 2027 Mars-orbit arrival and 2031 sample return.
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