Japan launches spacecraft to mysterious moons of Mars
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Japan → launch → Mars
1st mission to Mars's moons will attempt to land a robotic prospector plus a rover on Phobos
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mission → attempt → Phobos
A Japanese spacecraft rocketed toward Mars on Tuesday on an unprecedented quest to explore its mysterious moons and bring back samples.
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spacecraft → rocket → samples
Five of the world's space agencies joined forces for the five-year mission that will attempt to land a robotic prospector plus a rover on Phobos, the larger and closer of Mars's two pint-sized moons.
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that → join → moons
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is leading the bold sampling effort, launched the spacecraft before dawn from the country's main spaceport on Tanegashima Island.
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which → lead → Island
Officials declared success an hour later when the spacecraft separated as planned from the rocket's upper stage.
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spacecraft → declare → stage
Flight controllers burst into applause and jumped to their feet, shaking hands and embracing.
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controllers → burst → hands
While NASA has successfully landed nine spacecraft on Mars over the past 50 years and China scored a 2021 touchdown, no one has ever ventured onto Phobos or its sidekick Deimos.
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one → land → Phobos
And no one has managed to fetch samples from Mars, let alone its moons.
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one → manage → Mars
If successful, bits of dust, soil and rocks from Phobos will arrive on Earth in 2031.
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bits → arrive → 2031
"There's a lot of adrenaline and a lot of excitement and a lot of wow," said NASA astrophysicist Tom Statler, who's involved with the project.
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who → be → project
Japan has an edge going in, with two asteroid sample returns already under its cosmic belt.
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Japan → have → belt
Employees of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and others celebrate at the Tanegashima Space Centre as a Japanese spacecraft launched aboard an H3 rocket successfully separated as planned on Tuesday.
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spacecraft → celebrate → Tuesday
Examining pieces of it can explain how Mars's moons — and possibly moons elsewhere — came to be.
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moons → examine → it
Dubbed MMX for Martian Moons Exploration, the $812 million ($578 million US) mission features a hefty five-tonne spacecraft that should reach Mars by late next summer.
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that → dub → summer
It will sync up with Phobos's tight orbit around the red planet, before ejecting the French-German rover that's named Idefix after the white terrier in the Asterix comics.
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that → sync → comics
This photo taken with NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows Phobos, one of Mars's moons, on March 23, 2008.
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photo → take → March
No spacecraft has ever gone there before.
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spacecraft → go → ?
No bigger than a microwave oven, Idefix will plop onto Phobos by itself, bouncing for several minutes before coming to a halt in the moon's extraordinarily low gravity.
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Idefix → plop → gravity
What happens after Idefix the rover lands
The four-wheeled rover is designed to right itself if it lands upside down.
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it → happen → itself
All bets are off, though, if it sinks into soft soil or gets wedged between rocks, said the French Space Agency's Julien Baroukh.
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Baroukh → sink → rocks
Once the rover's solar panels are deployed, the vehicle can no longer right itself, he added, which is why it will move at a glacial one millimetre per second (0.04 inches per second).
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it → deploy → second
Idefix will serve as a "scout for safety," according to Baroukh, as it prowls around Phobos for 100 days.
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it → serve → days
Japanese flight controllers want to avoid powdery soil and rough terrain when the mothership — a four-legged stationary lander — descends to the surface to gather samples in late 2028 or 2029.
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mothership → want → 2028
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency unveils a spacecraft for its Martian Moons eXploration mission at the Tanegashima Space Center in Minamitane, Japan, on Aug. 13, 2026.
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Agency → unveil → Aug.
The lander will spend just two hours on Phobos, drilling and vacuuming up at least 10 grams (one-third of an ounce) of material, before launching back into space.
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lander → spend → space
It will study Deimos during a series of flybys before leaving the Martian neighborhood in 2030 and hustling back to Earth for a 2031 sample delivery in the Australian desert.
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It → study → desert
It's a treacherous undertaking, with wreckage littering the path.
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wreckage → litter → path
The moons' names aren't exactly comforting: Phobos is Greek for fear and Deimos means dread.
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Deimos → mean → dread
Scientists hope to learn how Mars's moons formed
Russia stumbled in all three of its Phobos attempts as well as many other Mars endeavours.
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Russia → hope → attempts
In its only other Mars mission, Japan failed to get a spacecraft into orbit around the red planet.
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Japan → fail → planet
Even NASA has had its share of flops in a bid to answer the burning question: Did life ever exist on Mars?
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life → have → Mars
By studying Mars's moons, scientists hope to learn whether Phobos and Deimos formed in the aftermath of an ancient collision between Mars and a battering space rock.
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Phobos → study → Mars
It's also possible that the moons might be stray asteroids that became ensnared in Mars's gravity.
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that → ensnare → gravity
Either way, scientists anticipate finding traces of Mars on Phobos, making the samples an irresistible two-for-one that should help demystify planetary and moon formation, and perhaps even the recipe for life.
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that → anticipate → life
The findings will help shape future Mars missions, including those by astronauts, said NASA's acting planetary science director Lindsay Hays.
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director → help → astronauts
We are part of the first sample return mission from the Martian system," said the Germany Space Agency's rover chief Markus Grebenstein.
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chief → say → system
Japan isn't the only one looking to claim the scientific riches packed into the Martian system's rocks and dirt.
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Japan → look → rocks
China plans to launch a sample return mission to Mars in 2028, while NASA is still debating how to retrieve the more than 30 sample tubes collected by the Perseverance Mars rover, the new champion for off-Earth driving.
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NASA → plan → driving
Japan and China could be neck-and-neck in getting samples back from the Martian system.
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Japan → get → system
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
