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.
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Five years to get samples from Phobos, which everyone already knew was a rock orbiting a rock. Groundbreaking, sure, assuming nobody noticed the moons were there.
Five years for a sample from Phobos, and nobody’s explaining how they’ll land on a potato-shaped rock that’s barely holding itself together?
Five years, and Phobos is still a potato nobody can explain. Cool.
Didn’t Japan promise asteroid dust samples before? Oh wait, that’s exactly what Hayabusa did. Different rock, same hype.
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.
