Japan’s space agency has launched the Martian Moons Exploration probe, which will study Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos and bring rock samples back to Earth in about five years.
Japan’s space agency has launched the Martian Moons Exploration probe, which will study Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos and bring rock samples back to Earth in about five years.
Five years to Phobos, grab a rock, and fly home. Nice plan. Who exactly is checking whether that “sample” is Martian dust or just the same moon regolith that every probe has already been dragging around the solar system? And if the answer is “we’ll find out when it lands,” then what’s the actual justification for spending the money now? Nobody’s saying how much this costs or who’s paying for the return leg.