Japanese scientists are gearing up for an ambitious mission to Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, with the aim of retrieving samples that could provide insights into the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth. The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, set to launch from Tanegashima Space Center, will spend approximately three years in Mars' orbit, attempting to land on Phobos and collect at least 10 grams of material. The IDEFIX rover will conduct surface observations, while the spacecraft will also observe Deimos without landing. The return capsule is expected to land in Australia around 2031.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes that the mission will reveal how Mars and its moons formed, a critical piece of knowledge in understanding the birth of the Solar System. One theory, the 'giant impact' hypothesis, suggests that the moons formed after a celestial body collided with Mars. The 'capture' hypothesis, on the other hand, posits that the moons are asteroids from the outer Solar System that were captured by Mars' gravity. Determining which theory is correct will help reveal how a habitable environment for life might have arisen on the terrestrial planets.
Patrick Michel, a French astrophysicist working on IDEFIX, highlighted the potential significance of the mission: "MMX will shed light on the transport mechanisms that delivered water, volatiles, and organic compounds from the outer Solar System to the inner rocky planet region -- processes that may have played a key role in making these worlds habitable." He added that if Phobos and Deimos are remnants of these early delivery systems, they may hold clues to the origins of life itself.
JAXA also sees the mission as a step towards human exploration of Mars. The agency plans to explore the possibility of using Phobos as a 'natural space station' by establishing the technology required for a round trip to Mars. MMX is a collaborative effort with France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and several universities and tech companies.
The development of the spacecraft's landing legs was particularly challenging due to the extremely low gravity on Phobos. Akinari Uehara, a Mitsubishi Electric engineer, explained: "We have to prevent the (probe) from falling down, by having the legs cushion the impact of landing." Japan has previous experience in space sample returns, including the Hayabusa-2 mission, which brought back 5.4 grams of rock and dust from an asteroid in 2020.
MMX is not the only mission aiming to bring back Mars samples. China has announced its Tianwen-3 spacecraft, scheduled for launch around 2028, which aims to return Mars samples to Earth around 2031, potentially earlier than MMX. China's Tianwen-1 mission already successfully landed the Zhurong rover on Mars in 2021.
For Bangladesh, the success of such space missions underscores the importance of investing in scientific research and technology. As countries around the world push the boundaries of space exploration, Bangladesh can draw inspiration to enhance its own scientific capabilities and contribute to global scientific advancements.
