When the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission returns to Earth in 2029, the spacecraft will bring home a sample capsule containing material from the martian moon, Phobos. This material is expected to not only reveal the composition and history of the moons, but also contain grains ejected from Mars over the red planet’s history. New research now suggests that the sample may also include traces of Mars’s ancient atmosphere.
The Martian Moons eXploration Mission (MMX) will be collaborating with the UK-led Twinkle Space Telescope to elucidate the origin of the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos.
With limited mass, the key is to prepare the most efficient combination in anticipation of what may happen in the future. For artificial satellites in the Earth’s sphere, rapid support provided from the ground can be expected. But the spacecraft system design for deep space missions such as Hayabusa, Hayabusa2 and MMX, it is similar to the idea of preparing to ride a bicycle in an area where support such as convenience stores cannot be expected at all.
When the MMX spacecraft leaves Earth in 2024 JFY*, it will be carrying a buddy: a rover designed to explore the surface of Phobos. The microwave-sized vehicle is being designed by the German and French space agencies, DLR and CNES. With a mass of approximately 25 kg, the rover must be both lightweight and strong. Its first test will be to survive the drop from the MMX spacecraft to the surface of Phobos, estimated to be a free-fall descent of about 40 to 100 m.
This week, JAXA and NHK announced plans to develop a camera for space that can take ultra high definition images. Two of the new “Super Hi-Vision” cameras will join the suite of instruments onboard the MMX spacecraft to record our journey to the Martian system!
This month, three different Mars probes left for the red planet, including the UAE’s Hope Mars Mission and China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe and rover, with the U.S. Perseverance rover to follow later this week. But why is everyone launching a Mars mission now? Has there been a sudden boom in Mars exploration?
A key question for the Martian Moons eXploration mission is how the two moons of Mars were formed. Competing theories suggest that the satellites are either captured asteroids or that they were formed during a giant impact with the red planet
Have you ever wished you could build your own Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft at home? We felt the same!
Organics have been found in a 4-billion-year-old Martian meteorite, supporting the idea that water once flowed over Mars’s surface. Further hints to the red planet’s habitable past may be collected by the MMX spacecraft, having been deposited on the surface of Phobos during Mars’s history.
This afternoon (19 February 2020), the MMX mission transitioned to become a JAXA Project: an official step in mission development authorised by the Japanese government. The mission was previously in the Pre-Project phase, where the focus was on research and analysis, such as simulating landings to improve spacecraft design. The focus will now move onto the development of mission hardware and software.
Today (March 5), the fourth EVA (ExtraVehicular Activity) for JAXA Astronaut Noguchi (@astro_soichi) is scheduled to begin about 9pm JST 👩🚀. The NASA TV 📺 live feed will start around 7:30pm JST!
You can watch the spacewalk live on NASA TV, starting at 5:30 a.m. EST in March 5: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/
This will be @Astro_Soichi’s fourth spacewalk in his career!
