Share to ClassroomJapan Sends Spacecraft for Mars Moon Soil
Japan has launched the first spacecraft to bring back soil from Phobos, a very small moon of Mars. The spacecraft, called MMX (Martian Moons Exploration), went up on a rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. About an hour later, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the launch was a success. The spacecraft plans to bring at least 10 grams of soil back to Earth in 2031.
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Scientists do not know how they were formed. Some think they are pieces from a big crash with Mars. Others think they are asteroids – rocks that travel around the Sun – that Mars pulled in with its gravity. The soil should help answer this question. Nobody has landed on these moons before.
MMX should reach Mars in 2027. First, it will drop a small rover – a robot car – built by France and Germany. Because the moon's gravity is very weak, the rover will bounce before it stops. It will look for safe places to land. Then the main spacecraft will land for about two hours and collect soil. The soil will come back to Earth in a capsule that lands in Australia. NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) says the results could help future trips to Mars with people.
