Martian Moons Exploration Martian Moons Exploration The Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) is a robotic space probe set for launch in 2024 to bring back the first samples from Mars' largest moon Phobos. Developed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and announced in 9 June 2015, MMX will land and collect samples from Phobos once or twice, along with conducting Deimos flyby observations and monitoring Mars' climate. The mission aims to provide key information to help determine whether the Martian moons are captured asteroids or the result of a larger body hitting Mars. The spacecraft will enter orbit around Mars, then transfer to
Phobos monolith astronaut Buzz Aldrin has spoken about the Phobos monolith and his support for a mission to Phobos. The object appears in Mars Global Surveyor images SPS252603 and SPS255103, dated 1998. The object is unrelated to another monolith located on the surface of Mars, which NASA noted as an example of a common surface feature in that region. Phobos monolith The Phobos monolith is a large rock on the surface of Mars's moon Phobos. It is a boulder about across and tall. A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive piece of rock. Monoliths also occur naturally on