Inside Japan's MMX Plan: Idefix Rover and a 2031 Sample Race
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Space
- Mars
- Phobos
- Mmx
- Jaxa
New details of Japan's Phobos mission reveal a microwave-sized rover, a two-hour lander stay, and a 2031 sample-return race with China.
What the newly detailed mission actually plans
The Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft, launched before dawn from Tanegashima on Japan's flagship H3 rocket, will reach Mars orbit by August 2027 and deploy a French-German rover named Idefix — after the white terrier in the Asterix comics — onto Phobos.
The Economic Times reports the four-wheeled rover, no bigger than a microwave oven, will bounce for several minutes in the moon's extraordinarily low gravity before settling, and is designed to right itself if it lands upside down.
It will then spend 100 days surveying for safe landing and sampling sites ahead of the mothership, a four-legged stationary lander that will gather samples in late 2028 or 2029.
A two-hour drill-and-vacuum stop on a moon of fear and dread
Once Idefix has scouted the surface, the main 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.
The stakes are high: Phobos is Greek for fear and Deimos means dread, twin sons of the war god Ares — and Russia failed all three of its Phobos attempts, while Japan's only other Mars mission never reached orbit.
Why scientists call it a once-in-a-lifetime chance
No spacecraft has ever landed on Phobos or Deimos, making this the first attempt to sample the Martian system's moons.
Scientists hope the samples will settle whether the two moons formed from debris of a 'giant impact' with Mars or are captured asteroids — an answer Jaxa says will reveal how a habitable environment might arise on terrestrial planets.
Traces of Mars are expected on Phobos itself, making the material a two-for-one for understanding planetary formation and perhaps the recipe for life. 'It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
We are part of the first sample return mission from the Martian system,' said Germany Space Agency rover chief Markus Grebenstein, quoted by both The Guardian and The Economic Times.
The 2031 race and who is paying
Japan is not racing alone for Martian samples.
The Economic Times reports China's Tianwen-3, slated to launch around 2028, could return Mars samples as early as 2031 — potentially neck-and-neck with MMX — while NASA's effort to retrieve the more than 30 sample tubes collected by the Perseverance rover was halted by the Trump administration after a congressional vote in January.
The Guardian reports the mission is funded at $578 million, with five space agencies collaborating and findings expected to shape future Mars missions, including crewed expeditions. Japan's two previous asteroid sample returns give it a rare edge heading into uncharted territory.