Humanity is reaching out to touch the mysterious rubble orbiting the Red Planet in an ambitious interplanetary endeavor. According to BBC News, a space mission is scheduled to blast off from Japan on Monday in an unprecedented attempt to grab a piece of Mars's moon, Phobos, and return it to Earth.

BBC News reported that the spacecraft will head toward Mars's larger moon, Phobos, and arrive by August 2027. If successful, this will mark the first time in history that a sample has been returned from Mars or its moons to be analysed in laboratories on Earth, as detailed by the BBC.

The mission is led by the Japanese Space Agency and is officially known as the Mars Moons Exploration (MMX) mission, according to BBC News. Prof Sara Russell from the Natural History Museum, who serves as the mission's deputy for sample analysis, told the BBC, "There hasn't yet been a successful mission to go to Phobos and bring a bit back to Earth. I think this is an incredibly ambitious and fun mission."

Background

According to BBC News, there are only three moons in the entire inner Solar System: Earth's Moon, and the two orbiting Mars, named Phobos and Deimos. Both Martian moons are tiny and irregularly shaped, resembling space potatoes, with Phobos measuring about 20km across and Deimos about 10km across, the BBC reported.

The BBC noted that the MMX spacecraft will study Deimos upon arrival in the Martian neighbourhood before focusing on Phobos. The mission plans to deploy a small rover to explore the terrain, though BBC News pointed out that no one has ever landed a rover on such a small moon. Prof Sara Russell explained to the BBC that the moon's lack of its own gravity, combined with the proximity of an enormous planet with much higher gravity, makes landing extremely difficult.

According to BBC News, the rover will scout a landing site so the main spacecraft can touch down to deploy a robotic arm and two samplers. The gathered moon dust will be packed into a small capsule and returned to Earth by 2031, landing in the Woomera desert of South Australia, the BBC reported. Dr Chrysa Avdellidou from Leicester University told the BBC that the returned material will weigh a tiny 10g, noting that scientists can conduct multiple studies even on individual grains.

Why it matters

Scientists hope the mission will finally solve the enduring mystery of how Mars's moons formed about 4.5 billion years ago, according to BBC News. The BBC outlined the two leading theories: either a space rock smashed into Mars early in its history creating Phobos and Deimos from debris, or the moons are wandering asteroids from the outer Solar System captured by the Red Planet's gravity.