Japan has launched an uncrewed mission to collect samples from Phobos, one of Mars’s two moons, and return them to Earth by 2031.
The five-year mission aims to bring material from the Martian moon back for scientists to study. If successful, it would be the first mission to return samples from a moon of Mars.
The mission marks Japan’s effort to carry out a historic sample-return operation beyond Earth, focused on Phobos and its place in the Mars system.
