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
Martian Moons Exploration Phobos, and land once or twice and gather sand-like regolith particles using a simple pneumatic system. The lander mission aims to retrieve a minimum of samples. The spacecraft will then take off from Phobos and make several flybys of the smaller moon Deimos before sending the Sample Return Capsule back to Earth, arriving in July 2029. The mission architecture uses three modules: propulsion module (1,800 kg), exploration module (150 kg) and the return module (1,050 kg). With the mass of Deimos and Phobos being too small to capture a satellite, it is not possible to orbit the Martian moons in