MMX mission aims to deploy Idefix rover at Phobos

A Japanese spacecraft launched toward Mars on Tuesday, beginning a mission to explore the planet's moons and bring samples back to Earth.

The mission is called MMX, short for Martian Moons Exploration.

Five space agencies are collaborating on the five-year mission, which will attempt to land a robotic prospector and a rover on Phobos, the larger and closer of Mars' two small moons.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is leading the sampling effort. It launched the spacecraft before dawn from the country's main spaceport on Tanegashima Island.

Scientists hope to establish whether Phobos and Deimos formed after an ancient collision between Mars and a space rock. Another possibility is that the moons were stray asteroids caught by Mars' gravity.

The rover, Idefix, is intended to scout Phobos for 100 days. Japanese flight controllers want to avoid powdery soil and rough ground when the main spacecraft descends to collect samples in late 2028 or 2029.

If the mission succeeds, dust, soil and rock from Phobos will reach Earth in 2031.