Isophoric News · Sunday, October 18, 2026
Japan plans world-first mission to bring back samples from Mars' moon Phobos
Japan's space agency, Jaxa, plans to launch a spacecraft Tuesday on an H3 rocket on the world's first mission to bring back samples from Phobos, a moon of Mars, the Guardian reported. The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is expected to take five years, reach the Mars region around August 2027, spend three years near Phobos and return home in 2031, the Guardian says, and aims to collect at least 10 grams of soil from two sampling attempts. Project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu called the moons "the most important unclimbed mountains in the solar system." The mission carries 13 instruments, including a French-German rover and a Nasa sampling device.
