IT·Science News

Japan launches MMX to bring back Mars moon dust: a world first, and a race with China

Japan’s space agency JAXA launched its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe on the No. 10 H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:41am on Tuesday 20 October, nippon.com reports, citing Jiji Press. About 1 hour and 11 minutes after liftoff, the rocket placed the probe into its planned orbit. MMX is due to land on Phobos, a moon of Mars, and return to Earth in 2031, in what nippon.com calls the world’s first sample return mission from a Martian moon.

BBC News summed up the goal in one line: bringing 10g of Martian moon dust back to Earth. Kuwait Times, running a wire report, set out the plan: arrive near Mars around August 2027, spend about three years in the Martian system, observe the second moon, Deimos, without landing, and send a French-German rover, IDEFIX, across Phobos to check the surface before landing. The probe is to collect at least 10 grams of material.

“I'd dreamt of this day, so I'm incredibly happy.” — Mari Aida, JAXA scientist, via Kuwait Times

How each outlet framed it

• nippon.com — the Japanese view: a successful H3 launch and a national first.
• BBC News — the ambition: a tiny 10g sample from a moon of Mars.
• Kuwait Times — the race: NASA’s Nicky Fox promised “paradigm-shifting science”, but NASA’s own Perseverance sample return was effectively cancelled after a January congressional vote, while China’s Tianwen-3, due to launch around 2028, aims to return Mars samples as early as 2031.

What we don't know yet: whether MMX or Tianwen-3 will bring Martian material home first; both currently point to 2031.