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Science

Japan: Successful rocket launch for mission to Mars moon Phobos

The launch of a new Mars mission was successful. From the Japanese space station Tanegashima, a rocket has set off for the red planet. The research could provide important insights for a manned mission to Mars.

Updated: 2 min read deublitz newsroom
Japan: Successful rocket launch for mission to Mars moon Phobos

The H3 rocket before its launch to the Mars moon Phobos

With the launch of the H3 launcher from the Japanese spaceport Tanegashima, a new mission towards Mars begins. The target is not the red planet, but its moon Phobos. It is the first mission to bring material from the Martian region back to Earth.

It is already Tuesday night in Japan. At 04.41 local time (Monday 21.41 CEST) the rocket was launched on time.

On board is a spacecraft that is expected to reach Mars by August next year. There she will first orbit Phobos, later land on it and collect at least ten grams of soil samples to bring them back to Earth. For the exploration of the Mars moon, a rover called Idefix is used – named after the dog from the Asterix comics.

“Sampling on Phobos is of course a world premiere, but above all, the mission is the first one in which there is a one-way flight to Mars and a return flight to Earth,” Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, the AFP news agency, said. He is the head of the Martin Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. Japan, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the US Space Agency (NASA) are working together on the project.

Another part of the mission is dedicated to observing Deimos, a second Mars moon. A landing there is not planned. In addition, the MMX mission will test whether Phobos could serve as a "natural space station". For a later manned Mars exploration, such as SpaceX chief Elon Musk plans, this would be of crucial importance.

The Japanese space agency hopes that the mission will provide insights into the formation and composition of the Mars moon. There are two theories for the formation of the satellites: The “big impact hypothesis” states that the moons were formed by the collision of a celestial body with Mars. The "capture theory", on the other hand, suspects that these are asteroids that Mars has captured by gravity.

The capsule containing Phobos samples is expected to arrive in Australia in 2031.

Source: Spiegel ›

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