TanegashimaA Japanese probe lifts off Tuesday to fetch Phobos dirt.
The samples could settle whether Mars’s moons are captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact.
Circular orbits above Mars’s equator point to an impact, while dark red surfaces resemble captured D-type asteroids.
“This will be a first-time activity, which is very complex,” said Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, project manager at Japan’s space agency.
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration probe reaches Mars orbit in August 2027, lands on Phobos in 2030 and returns samples in 2031.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 100+ reports worldwide
- The New York Times
- reconstructs the MMX mission's NASA and ESA contributions with dollar values, including the $87 million NASA share of instruments and sample devices
- Dawn leans favorable
- frames MMX as a step toward crewed Mars exploration, quoting JAXA's plan to use Phobos as a 'natural space station'
- The Times of India
- places the 2031 return capsule and the Deimos flyby before Phobos in the sequence, and quotes the rover team on why landing on so small a moon is unprecedented
- The Straits Times
- adds that China plans a rival sample mission and that Japan faces hard work in Mars gravity, framing MMX as a race
Sources: The New York Times, Dawn, The Times of India, The Straits Times