Why in news
- Japan's aerospace agency JAXA is launching the Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft to collect soil samples from Mars's moon Phobos.
Key terms
Phobos and Deimos
The two small, irregularly shaped natural satellites orbiting Mars.
Regolith
A loose layer of heterogeneous dust, soil, and broken rock covering solid bedrock on celestial bodies.
Sample Return Mission
A space mission designed to collect physical samples from an extraterrestrial body and return them to Earth for laboratory analysis.
JAXA
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the national air and space agency of Japan.
What is the MMX Mission?
- A robotic space probe mission developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aimed at studying Mars's two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
- The mission plans to land a rover on Phobos, collect a core sample of at least 10 grams from its surface, and return the sample to Earth.
Key scientific objectives
- Determine whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or the result of a massive impact between Mars and a protoplanet.
- Analyse volatile components and organic material trapped in Martian moon regolith to shed light on how water and organic compounds circulated in the early Solar System.
Why it matters
- It will mark the first sample return mission from the Martian system, providing direct physical material from a Martian satellite.
- Findings will clarify planetary formation theories and assist future human exploration missions to Mars by characterising the gravity and radiation environment of its moons.
Prelims facts
- MMX is a JAXA mission designed to collect and return soil samples from Mars's moon Phobos.
Source: The Hindu
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