The “Martian Moons eXploration Project, MMX” organised session at the 68th Space Science and Technology Conference

Commonly known as “Ukaren”, the 68^th Space Science and Technology Conference was held at the “Arcrea Himeji” (Himeji Cultural Convention Center) from November 5 – 8, 2024. Over 2,000 people attended this event, which hosted a variety of lectures on space science and space technology.

During the second half of the conference on November 7 – 8, the “Martian Moons eXploration Project, MMX” (火星衛星探査計画MMX) session was held, with 28 presentations on the MMX mission. A similar dedicated session had been part of the conference last year, which hosted slightly more talks as this year’s meeting fell just after the MMX Science Meeting that had been held in Paris, France. It has been a busy year!

Left: The conference sign for the Space Science and Technology Conference. Right: Project Manager Kawakatsu Yasuhiro giving the opening presentation at the MMX session, “Martian Moons eXploration Mission, MMX”.

The first presentation at this year’s event was by MMX Project Manager Kawakatsu Yasuhiro, who gave an overview of the mission and current development status of the MMX Project. After that, presentations focussed on all aspects of the Project, including mission science, the integrated system design, operational design, spacecraft system development, mission instrument development, and the ground systems. In particular, 2024 saw a succession of handovers as the onboard instruments arrived from throughout Japan and overseas to be integrated onto the spacecraft. Integration tests have begun, and many presentations updated on their current status. In departure from previous recent meetings, talks on international cooperation and public relations and outreach activities were presented. As last year, topics related to the curation of celestial samples were also included, but this year there was also a presentation on the contamination management plan for the samples that will be returned from Phobos by MMX to prevent incorporation of terrestrial contaminants into the sample.

Left: All the MMX members who attending on day one of our dedicate session (November 7). Right: And our members on day 2 (November 8)!

The session was a great success, with around 80 people attending on the first day (November 7), with some participants having to stand. The following day on November 8 had fewer presentations and the attendance was slightly lower, at around 50 people. Nevertheless, the audience grew during the presentation on IREM: the Interplanetary Radiation Environment Monitor which is one of the 13 instruments onboard MMX. The topic seemed to appeal to many participants from other fields who had a strong interest in interplanetary radiation environments. Overall, there was enthusiastic Q&A from the audience following all the presentations.

At the end of the program on the final day of Ukaren, there was a special lecture by Japanese astronaut Wakata Koichi. Many young people, from elementary school students through to high school, participated in the large hall in the venue. At the end of the talk, the students asked many enthusiastic questions, which were answered just as enthusiastically by Astronaut Wakata!

Next year, Ukaren will be held in Sapporo from November 25 – November 28, 2025.