Space race heats up: Japan and China vie for Mars rocks
The space race is heating up: Japan plans to launch the MMX mission in 2026 to collect at least 10 grams from Phobos, a moon of Mars, and return the samples to Earth by 2031. Meanwhile, China is planning Tianwen-3, which aims to bring samples from the surface of Mars itself around 2031. The Japanese mission will include a complex landing on Phobos, soil analysis by a robotic rover named IDEFIX, and flybys of Deimos. The scientific goal is to settle the debate over the moons' formation, between the giant impact hypothesis and the capture hypothesis.
The space race is heating up: Japan and China are competing to bring back samples from Mars and its moons. The Japanese MMX mission is scheduled for launch in 2026, aiming to collect at least 10 grams from Phobos, with sample return to Earth by 2031. According to a report by the French news agency, the spacecraft will spend about three years in orbit around Mars and attempt a complex landing on Phobos. During the landing, it will collect material, and a small robotic rover named IDEFIX, after the dog from the Asterix comic series, will make observations and analyze the soil. On the way back, the spacecraft will perform flybys of Deimos, the second moon, before the sample capsule lands in the Australian outback around 2031. Meanwhile, China is planning Tianwen-3, which aims to bring samples from the surface of Mars itself around 2031. The scientific goal is to settle the debate over the moons' formation: the giant impact hypothesis holds that they formed after a collision, while the capture hypothesis suggests they are captured asteroids. Patrick Michel, a French astrophysicist on the team, noted that solving the mystery will help understand how a suitable environment for life developed on rocky planets. Developing the landing legs was challenging due to the weak gravity on Phobos.