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
Planet that objects that fulfill the orbital zone clearance requirement automatically fulfill the roundness requirement. The table below lists Solar System bodies once considered to be planets. Beyond the scientific community, Pluto still holds cultural significance for many in the general public due to its historical classification as a planet from 1930 to 2006. A few astronomers, such as Alan Stern, consider dwarf planets and the larger moons to be planets, based on a purely geophysical definition of "planet". The names for the planets in the Western world are derived from the naming practices of the Romans, which ultimately derive from