Japan has launched an uncrewed spacecraft toward Phobos, one of Mars’s moons, in a mission aimed at bringing samples from the moon back to Earth for analysis for the first time.
Reuters reported early Tuesday, October 20, that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft was launched aboard a rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan before dawn.
According to the report, the spacecraft is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and return samples to Earth in 2031.
JAXA hopes the mission will shed light on the origins of Mars’s two moons and deepen understanding of the early stages of the solar system.
The agency aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from the moon’s surface and bring it back to Earth for analysis.
