Japan's space agency JAXA has sent the MMX probe to Mars, which is set to become the first mission in history to bring samples of soil from Phobos back to Earth, the website infohub.kz reports.
The spacecraft, weighing about 5 tonnes, lifted off on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima spaceport. The $578 million project is designed to last five years and involves specialists from the United States and Europe. The probe will enter Mars orbit by the end of summer 2027 and will then begin studying the planet's two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
The key stage of the mission will be the landing on Phobos. Before the main spacecraft touches down on the moon's surface, a French-German rover the size of a microwave oven, called Idefix, will be dropped onto it. The small rover from the research team will check the safety of the terrain and the conditions under weak gravity.
The module itself will then make a two-hour landing to collect at least 10 grams of rock samples. Scientists hope the materials obtained will help determine the origin of Mars' moons and provide new data on the planet's own past. The capsule with the soil is scheduled to return to Earth in 2031.