Japan launches five year space mission to explore moons of Mars

Japan launched an unmanned spacecraft on Tuesday on a five year mission to explore the moons of Mars and retrieve physical samples. France 24, PBS NewsHour, and RTE reported that the probe blasted off to examine Phobos and Deimos, marking a joint effort involving five global space agencies. [1][3][4]

According to RTE, an H3 rocket carrying the Martian Moons eXploration probe lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 4:41am local time on Tuesday. France 24 noted that the project costs $578 million and aims to return dust, soil, and rock samples back to Earth in 2031. [1][4]

France 24 and PBS NewsHour reported that the mission will attempt to land a robotic prospector and a rover directly onto Phobos, the larger and closer of the two Martian moons. Scientists hope the gathered materials will help explain how the moons formed and provide clues about the origins of life and the solar system, according to France 24 and RTE. [1][3][4]

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency leads the development and operation of the mission. In addition to landing on Phobos, the spacecraft will conduct flyby observations of Deimos and monitor the climate of Mars. [1][3][11]