{"id":804057,"date":"2026-10-18T07:26:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T12:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=804057"},"modified":"2026-10-18T07:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T12:26:32","slug":"the-mmx-mission-launches-to-mars-moons-on-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=804057","title":{"rendered":"The MMX mission launches to Mars\u2019 moons on Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-561026\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Artist\u2019s illustration of Japan\u2019s MMX spacecraft at Phobos, the larger of Mars\u2019 two small moons. MMX will land on Phobos, collect a soil sample and bring it back to Earth in 2031. Image via ESA\/JAXA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Japan plans to launch<\/strong> <strong>its MMX mission<\/strong> to Mars\u2019 moons on October 19.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The spacecraft will explore Phobos and Deimos<\/strong> and collect a sample from Phobos.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The mission aims to return the sample<\/strong> to Earth in 2031.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong>MMX mission will travel to Phobos and bring a sample home<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japan is about to launch a new mission to Mars\u2019 two moons, Phobos and Deimos, on October 19. Its main goal is to collect soil from Phobos and bring it back to Earth, where scientists hope it will reveal where the moons came from.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is preparing to launch its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 19:41 UTC (2:41 p.m. CDT) on October 19, 2026. That\u2019s 4:41 a.m. Japan Standard Time on October 20.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a journey of about 10 months, the spacecraft will reach Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. There, the mission will deploy a rover to land on and explore Phobos. After taking a sample of Phobos\u2019 soil, it will return to Earth in 2031, depositing its precious cargo in Australia for retrieval.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fascinating science, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. <strong>Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 2 moons of Mars<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phobos \u2014 which means fear \u2014 and Deimos \u2014 which means terror \u2014 are the only two known moons of Mars, which takes its name from the Roman god of war. Astronomers long assumed these potato-shaped moons were captured asteroids that veered too close to Mars. However, astronomers have recently wondered if these nuggets are pieces of Mars that an impact flung into space. In fact, some think Phobos might once have been a ring around Mars \u2026 and it might one day break apart to become a ring once again.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How MMX will reach and sample Phobos<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"712\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/esa-MMX-cartoon-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustrated diagram showing the stages of Japan's MMX mission to Mars, including exploration of Phobos and the return of samples to Earth.\" class=\"wp-image-561032\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.9129213483146067;width:650px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/esa-MMX-cartoon-1-1.jpg 650w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/esa-MMX-cartoon-1-1-274x300.jpg 274w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-561033\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"712\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/esa-MMX-cartoon-2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustrated diagram showing the stages of Japan's MMX mission to Mars, including exploration of Phobos and the return of samples to Earth.\" class=\"wp-image-561033\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/esa-MMX-cartoon-2.jpg 650w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/esa-MMX-cartoon-2-274x300.jpg 274w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">These graphics show the major phases in the MMX mission from launch in October 2026 to samples returning to Earth in 2031. Images via X\/ ESA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The components of the MMX mission<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MMX spacecraft has three parts. The propulsion module is what will get the spacecraft to Mars. Once there, the exploration module will visit Phobos\u2019 surface with a rover and do soil sampling. Finally, the return module will journey back toward Earth and release a capsule that will target Australia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japan modeled the MMX mission after the highly successful Hayabusa2 mission that visited the asteroid Ryugu and returned samples to Earth. The Hayabusa2 mission discovered that Ryugu\u2019s soil contained the building blocks of life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We can\u2019t wait to see what MMX discovers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bottom line: The MMX mission launches October 19 to explore Mars\u2019 two moons. It will land on Phobos, collect a sample and bring it back to Earth in 2031.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Via JAXA<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Via ESA<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Kelly Kizer Whitt writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She&#8217;s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children&#8217;s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/mmx-mission-mars-moons-phobos-deimos\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artist\u2019s illustration of Japan\u2019s MMX spacecraft at Phobos, the larger of Mars\u2019 two small moons. MMX will land on Phobos, collect a soil sample and bring it back to Earth&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":804058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-804057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=804057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/804058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=804057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=804057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=804057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}