How Did Mars Get Its Moons? Japan’s MMX Space Mission Aims to Solve the Puzzle
The spacecraft will collect more than 10 grams from Phobos and return it to Earth, seeking clues to how Mars’s moons formed.
7 Articles
7 Articles
Japan’s MMX space mission probes how Mars got its moons
The Earth got its Moon when a small planet collided with our planet more than four billion years ago. This impact hurled molten rock into space, which eventually coalesced to form the satellite we can see every night from across our planet. But what of our neighbor, Mars? The Red Planet has two small, irregularly […]
How did Mars get its moons? Japan’s MMX space mission aims to solve the puzzle
Phobos is dominated by Stickney crater, a 9km (5.6 mile) bowl visible on the right. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of ArizonaThe Earth got its Moon when a celestial object collided with our planet more than four billion years ago. This impact hurled molten rock into space, which eventually coalesced to form the satellite we can see every night from across our planet. But what of our neighbour, Mars? The red planet has two small, irregularly shaped …
Phobos and Deimos are dark, small and irregularly shaped, but follow almost circular orbits around Mars. Whether they are captured asteroids or remains of a massive impact is therefore still unclear. The Japanese space probe MMX is intended to clarify this question by measurements and samples of Phobos and to break open to Mars on 19 October 2026. Cologne (Germany). [...] The article Japan's MMX space probe is intended to clarify the origin of t…
From the Mojave to Phobos: PlanetVac rides with MMX
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration mission, MMX, is about to set out for Phobos and Deimos, the two small moons of Mars. If all goes well, it will bring the first-ever sample from the Martian system back to Earth. Asa Stahl, public outreach astronomer at The Planetary Society, explains why these stra
A gigantic probe flying through space. This is the "Mars Moons Probe," scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in the early hours of October 20th. We'll delve into the full scope of this grand mission that JAXA is undertaking this autumn. Standing approximately 5 meters tall and weighing about 4.5 tons, this is the Mars Moons Probe "MMX," unveiled to the press in August 2026. Reporter Koyo Todoroki: "This is the unveiled Mars Moons…
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