IndiaAIFounders — ‘Once-in-a-lifetime chance’: Japan launches historic mission to collect rocks from Mars’s moon Phobos

‘Once-in-a-lifetime chance’: Japan launches historic mission to collect rocks from Mars’s moon Phobos

October 19, 2026 at 11:37 PM

Scientists hope Martian material collected will shed light on the origins of the solar system and life on Earth

Japan has successfully launched a spacecraft on an unprecedented mission to bring back samples from one of Mars’s moons that scientists hope will shed light on the origins of the solar system and life on Earth.

The Martian ⁠Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft, propelled by Japan’s flagship H3 rocket, lifted off before dawn from Tanegashima island in the country’s far south-west, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said.

Shown as published in the source's RSS feed. IndiaAIFounders doesn't link out to third-party sites — this is the complete detail available from the feed itself.