Small-body mission · JAXA
MMX (Martian Moons eXploration)
JAXA's planned mission to the moons of Mars — it will study Phobos and Deimos and return a sample of Phobos to Earth, testing whether the Martian moons are captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact.
Imagery
9M-MMX Boeing 737 Malaysia (7921505578)
At Kuala Lumpur Sepang
Aeroprints.com · CC BY-SA
Targets & sample
Target bodies:Phobos
Also:Phobos (sample return) and Deimos (flybys)
Mission & science
- Goals
- Return a sample of Phobos and determine the origin of the Martian moons.
- Engineering milestones
- Launch planned for the mid-2020s; sample return planned several years later.
- Outcome
- Planned — not yet launched.
- Known limitations
- A planned mission; no outcomes exist yet.
Knowledge connections
- Member of groupSample-Return Mission
- Member of groupRendezvous Mission
- Member of groupLander Mission
- Operated byJAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)
- Target ofPhobos
- Tracked byJAXA Deep Space Network
- Member of groupMars Exploration
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- JAXAJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Japanese missions (Hayabusa, Akatsuki) and space science.