Japan to launch historic mission to Mars moon

TOKYO: Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars's moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region.

The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, a collaboration with US and European space agencies as well as numerous universities and tech companies, could also help lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration.

The flagship H3 rocket carrying the MMX is set to blast off from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Tuesday at 4.41am, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The spacecraft will arrive near Mars one year later, where it will orbit its moon Phobos for up to three years before landing and collecting at least 10 grams of material from the surface.

A rover dubbed IDEFIX — the French name for the comic hero Asterix's dog — will first conduct surface observations aimed at ensuring a safe landing.

"The sampling (from) Phobos is of course the world's first, but it means... this is the first round trip to the Martian system," MMX project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu said.

JAXA said the mission will also explore the possibility of using Phobos as a "natural space station" by establishing the requirements for a round trip to Mars — something "essential for crewed Mars exploration".

It will also observe the Red Planet's moon Deimos, although it will not land on it, before returning to Earth.

"MMX will shed light on the transport mechanisms that delivered water, volatiles, and organic compounds from the outer Solar System to the inner rocky planet region – processes that may have played a key role in making these worlds habitable," said Patrick Michel, a French astrophysicist working on IDEFIX.

"If Phobos and Deimos are indeed remnants of these early delivery systems, they may hold clues to the origins of life itself, or, to be more correct, to the transport of the materials that were key to the emergence of life on rocky planets."

MMX is a collaboration with France's National Centre for Space Studies, the German Aerospace Centre, NASA, the European Space Agency and about 20 universities and tech companies. — AFP