Tag

Mmx

All articles tagged with #mmx

space6 days ago•17 min saved

Phobos sample-return: Japan’s MMX to bring Martian moon dust to Earth

Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) aims to land a small rover on Phobos, collect more than 10 grams of material with two sampling systems, and return a capsule to Australia by 2031—the first deliberate Martian-system sample brought to Earth. The mission will include a 25‑kg IDEFIX rover, a brief daytime Phobos touchdown, and a return capsule for lab analysis in South Australia, with 11 instruments mapping landing sites and characterizing the material to probe Phobos’s origin and Mars’s history.

via Space Daily|

#mars #mmx #phobos

space8 days ago•9 min saved

Japan eyes Mars’ moons for first sample-return voyage

Japan’s JAXA plans the unmanned MMX mission to orbit Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos, landing on Phobos to collect at least 10 grams of material and returning a capsule to Earth around 2031, in collaboration with CNES, DLR, NASA and ESA. The mission aims to shed light on how Mars and its moons formed and how water, volatiles, and organics reached the inner solar system, as rival China pursues its Tianwen-3 sample-return and NASA’s Perseverance is noted as having samples but described as effectively canceled in the article.

via Japan Today|

#deimos #mars-moons #mmx

space2 months ago•12 min saved

The New Space Race: Bringing Home Untouched Mars, Phobos, and Asteroid Samples

NASA’s Mars Sample Return architecture has effectively been unwound in favor of a Mars Future Missions technology line, shifting the race for pristine samples to China and Japan with campaigns targeting Mars, the Martian moon Phobos, and the near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa. Perseverance has collected roughly 30 sealed samples but there is currently no funded retrieval mission in the U.S. pipeline. Looking ahead, China’s Tianwen-2 aims for Kamo'oalewa with a 2026–27 rendezvous and a 2027 return, Japan’s MMX targets Phobos samples for around 2031, and China’s Tianwen-3 aims to return Martian material around 2030–31; if Tianwen-3 succeeds, China would deliver the first Martian samples, though the Jezero collection remains scientifically richer and presently unfunded for retrieval under U.S. policy.

via Space Daily|

#kamooalewa #mars-sample-return #mmx

space-exploration4 months ago•73 min saved

Japanese MMX Moves to Launch Pad for Phobos Sample-Return Mission

Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) has reached Tanegashima for a late-2026 launch on the H3 rocket. The mission will collect about 10 grams from Phobos and return the samples to Earth in 2031, aided by the IDEFIX rover to scout a landing site. MMX aims to help determine whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or Mars ejecta, offering insights into Mars’ history and the inner solar system; after delays tied to H3 issues, the project targets a Mars-orbit phase in 2027 and a Phobos landing in 2029.

via Space|

#h3-rocket #mmx #phobos

space4 months ago•7 min saved

Six Space Missions to Watch in 2026 After Artemis II

After Artemis II's Moon flyby, six major missions are set to launch in 2026: China's Chang'e 7 will land near the lunar south pole with a rover and a small flying probe; NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will survey large swaths of the sky in infrared; ESA's PLATO will hunt for Earth-sized exoplanets in habitable zones; JAXA's MMX aims to land on Phobos and return a sample to Earth by 2031; ESA's Hera will study the Didymos–Dimorphos asteroid system after the DART impact; and BepiColombo will arrive at Mercury with two orbiters to map the planet and its environment.

via BBC Science Focus Magazine|

#artemis #change-7 #mmx

science7 months ago•44 min saved

Lunar Returns and Martian Moons on the Horizon: 2026’s Space Lineup

A busy 2026 space agenda features NASA's crewed Artemis II lunar-orbit test, Blue Origin's Pathfinder lunar lander flight, China's Chang'e-7 and Tianwen-2 missions (with a 2027 sample return), Japan's MMX mission to study Phobos and Deimos, and Mengzhou’s upgrade plan for Shenzhou—though MMX may slip to 2027 after a rocket test setback.

via Good News Network|

#artemis-ii #blue-moon-pathfinder #change-7

space-exploration2 years ago•2 min saved

"Japan's Mars Mission Launch Postponed to 2026"

The Japanese space agency JAXA has delayed the launch of its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to 2026, citing the need for additional time to verify the spacecraft and the impact of the failed launch of the H3 rocket. The mission, originally scheduled for 2024, aims to collect samples from the Martian moon Phobos and return them to Earth for analysis, with the revised schedule targeting a sample return in 2031.

via SpaceNews|

#jaxa #mars-mission #mmx