- Published
A space mission is set to launch on Monday that will attempt to grab a piece of Mars' moon Phobos and bring it back to Earth.
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that → publish → Earth
If it is successful, this will become the first time a sample has been returned from Mars or its moons to be analysed in laboratories here on Earth.
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sample → become → Earth
The spacecraft will blast off from Japan and arrive at Phobos in August 2027.
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spacecraft → blast → August
It is hoped that the Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, which is led by the Japanese Space Agency, will solve the mystery of how Mars's moons formed.
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moons → hop → mystery
Prof Sara Russell, from the Natural History Museum, who is the MMX mission's deputy for sample analysis, said: "There hasn't yet been a successful mission to go to Phobos and bring a bit back to Earth.
"
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who → say → Earth
I think this is an incredibly ambitious and fun mission," she said.
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she → think → ?
There are only three moons in the inner Solar System: our own Moon, and two around Mars, which are called Phobos and Deimos.
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which → be → Mars
They are also irregularly shaped, looking a bit like space potatoes.
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They → shape → potatoes
The MMX spacecraft will study Deimos as it arrives in the Mars neighbourhood, and then will focus on Phobos.
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it → study → Phobos
It plans to set down a small rover to explore the terrain, though this will be no easy feat.
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this → plan → terrain
Sara Russell says no one has ever landed a rover on such a small moon.
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one → say → moon
"The moon itself doesn't have very much of its own gravity," she explained.
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she → have → gravity
"But it's next to an enormous planet that's got a much higher gravity, and that makes it much harder to get a rover onto the surface."
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it → get → surface
The rover will scout out a landing site so that the MMX spacecraft itself can later touch down on Phobos.
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spacecraft → scout → Phobos
Once on the surface, it will deploy a robotic arm and two samplers to grab some moon dust.
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it → deploy → dust
This material will be packed into a small capsule that will return to Earth in 2031, landing in the Woomera desert of South Australia.
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that → pack → Australia
The amount of material that will come back is tiny - just 10g.
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that → come → material
It's a very small [amount] actually," said Dr Chrysa Avdellidou, from Leicester University, who is working with the Japanese mission.
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who → say → mission
"However we can do several studies even on individual grains…
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we → do → grains
You don't need to have kilos back from a surface in order to do science.
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You → need → science
So it's worth every gram," she said.
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she → say → ?
Scientists believe the sample will finally shed light on the puzzle of where Mars's moons came from.
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moons → believe → where
Either a space rock smashed into Mars early in its history, and Phobos and Deimos were created from the debris.
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Phobos → smash → debris
Or the moons are two wandering asteroids from the outer Solar System, which were grabbed by the Red Planet's gravity.
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which → wander → gravity
"When we get the sample back, we'll be able to look in detail at its chemistry and its mineral composition - and the two hypotheses will produce very distinct results," said Sara Russell.
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Russell → get → results
"It should be pretty much immediately obvious.. whether it's the product of this dramatic impact or whether it's a captured asteroid.
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it → capture → impact
So we'll find that out really quickly."
The team is also hoping there might be an extra bonus coming back to their labs.
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team → find → labs
"One of the really exciting things is that Phobos is so close to the Mars surface that whenever there's an impact into the Mars surface, little grains might actually become implanted into Phobos itself," said Russell.
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Russell → be → Phobos
"And that means that the sample we get back may actually contain grains of Mars as well.
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we → mean → Mars
So it can give us really direct information about the composition and history of Mars.
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it → give → Mars
"
Bringing material from Mars back to Earth has long been an ambition of space scientists.
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Bringing → bring → scientists
The Nasa Perseverance rover, which has been exploring Mars since 2021, has been carefully collecting samples on Mars and storing them in canisters.
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which → explore → canisters
But a second Nasa/ESA mission, called Mars Sample Return, that would have picked up and returned these canisters, has been effectively cancelled, after its funding was halted by the US Congress.
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funding → call → Congress
China is planning its own sampling mission to Mars, set to launch in 2028.
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China → plan → 2028
It will attempt to return Martian material to Earth in 2031.
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It → attempt → 2031
We do already have some fragments of the Red Planet here on Earth in the form of Martian meteorites.
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We → have → meteorites
These are pieces of Mars that were blasted off the surface by asteroid strikes, and ended up being hurled towards the Earth.
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that → blast → Earth
Martian meteorites are extremely rare, but like all space rocks that fall to our planet, they become contaminated as soon as they get here, mixing with the air, dust, soil and water.
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they → fall → air
Scientists are so desperate to get their gloved hands on a direct sample from Mars and its moons because it would be pristine.
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it → get → Mars
The MMX mission is scheduled to blast off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41 local time on 20 October (20:41BST 19 October).
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mission → schedule → October
The Aporia
