TElescopic Nadir imager for GeOmOrphology (TENGOO) Optical RadiOmeter composed of CHromatic Imagers (OROCHI) Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) MMX InfraRed Spectrometer (MIRS) Mars-moon Exploration with GAmma rays and NEutrons (MEGANE) Circum-Martian Dust Monitor (CMDM) Mass Spectrum Analyzer (MSA)
Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) is a robotic space probe set for launch in 2026 to bring back the first samples from Mars' largest moon Phobos.[3][5] Developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and announced on 9 June 2015, MMX will land and collect samples from Phobos once or twice, along with conducting Deimos flyby observations and monitoring Mars's climate.[6]
The mission aims to provide key information to help determine whether the Martian moons are captured asteroids or the result of a larger body hitting Mars. JAXA and other Japanese government officials officially approved the MMX project to proceed into development on 19 February 2020, according to a post on JAXA's website.[1]
The spacecraft will enter orbit around Mars, then transfer to Phobos,[7] and land once or twice and gather sand-like regolith particles using a simple pneumatic system.[8] The lander mission aims to retrieve a minimum 10 g (0.35 oz) of samples.[4][9] The spacecraft will then take off from Phobos and make several flybys of the smaller moon Deimos before sending the Return Module back to Earth, arriving in 2031.[3][10][7]
The total launch mass is 4000 kg including 1900 kg of propellant.[11] The mission architecture uses three modules: Propulsion module (1800 kg), Exploration module (150 kg) and the Return module (1050 kg).[2] With the mass of Deimos and Phobos being too small to capture a satellite, it is not possible to orbit the Martian moons in the usual sense. However, orbits of a special kind, referred to as quasi-satellite orbits (QSO), can be sufficiently stable to allow many months of operations in the vicinity of the moon.[2][12][13]
NASA, ESA, and CNES[15] are also participating in the project, and will provide scientific instruments.[16][17] NASA will contribute a neutron and gamma-ray spectrometer called MEGANE (an acronym for Mars-moon Exploration with GAmma rays and NEutrons, which also means "eyeglasses" in Japanese),[18][19] CNES the Near IR Spectrometer (NIRS4/MacrOmega).[9][20] CNES is also contributing expertise in flight dynamics to plan the mission's orbiting and landing manoeuvres.[8]
Development and testing of key components, including the sampler, is ongoing.[21] As of December 2023, MMX is scheduled to be launched in 2026, and will return to Earth five years later in 2031.[10]
TENGOO – TElescopic Nadir imager for GeOmOrphology, a narrow field camera for detailed terrain study
OROCHI – Optical RadiOmeter composed of CHromatic Imagers, a wide field visible light camera
LIDAR – Light Detection and Ranging, uses a laser to reflect light from the moon's surface, to study surface altitude and albedo
MIRS – MMX InfraRed Spectrometer, a near-infrared observation device for characterizing the minerals that make up the moons of Mars. Developed in partnership with CNES, France
MEGANE – (MEGANE means "eyeglasses" in Japanese) Mars-moon Exploration with GAmma rays and NEutrons, a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer developed in partnership with NASA
CMDM – Circum-Martian Dust Monitor, a dust counting device for characterizing the environment around the Martian moons
JAXA will partner with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) to develop the "Super Hi-Vision Camera" which combines a 4K and 8K camera, making it the first time that Mars will be imaged in 8K resolution. Images will be regularly transmitted back to Earth with flight data, in order to recreate MMX exploration around Mars and its moons. The original image data will be stored in a recording device in MMX's return capsule and brought back to Earth as part of the sample-return portion of the mission.[23]
The Gravity GradioMeter (GGM), Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), Mission Survival Module (MSM) were proposed as additional instruments.[24]
Following a study by the French CNES space agency,[8] it was decided that the spacecraft will deliver a small rover provided by CNES and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). IDEFIX[25][26] is a rover weighing less than 30 kg, and is named after Idéfix, the French name for Dogmatix, Obelix' dog in the French comic Asterix.
It will be equipped with cameras, a radiometer, and a Raman spectrometer for in-situ surface exploration of the Martian moon.[27]
Its objectives are to touch the surface of Phobos, to check the behaviour of the surface under mechanical actions and to relay this information to Earth. It must also demonstrate that it is possible to use wheeled locomotion on a body with such low gravity. Finally, it will take measurements in situ, observing the ground of Phobos at a resolution of 100 μm, and moving around on it.[citation needed]
MMX's sampler is equipped with two sampling methods: the Coring Sampler (C-SMP) to gain regolith at depths deeper than 2 cm from the Phobos surface, and the Pneumatic Sampler (P-SMP) for samples from the Phobos surface. The robotic arm will collect regolith from the ground by shooting the C-SMP mechanism. The C-SMP mechanism is designed to rapidly perform subsurface sampling to collect over 10 grams of the regolith. It is equipped with an ejecting actuator that uses a special shape memory alloy, SCSMA.[28][29] P-SMP is installed close to the footpad of the landing leg, and uses an air gun to puff pressurized gas, pushing about 10 grams of soil into the sample container.[30] Both C-SMP and P-SMP can collect samples quickly because the entire sampling procedure is scheduled to be performed in only 2.5 hours.
After taking a sample, the robotic arm will transfer both C-SMP and P-SMP canisters to the sample return capsule.[31] The spacecraft will then make several flybys of the smaller moon Deimos before carrying the Sample Return Capsule back to Earth, arriving in 2031.[3][10][7]
^Hiroki Kato, Yasutaka Satou, Kent Yoshikawa, Masatsugu Otsuki, Hirotaka Sawada, Takeshi Kuratomi, and Nana Hidaka, "Subsurface Sampling Robot for Time-limited Asteroid Exploration," 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2020, pp. 1925-1932, doi: 10.1109/IROS45743.2020.9340645.
Spaceflight
