Two of Martian moons may have a visitor in the not so far future. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has united with German and French space agencies to send a spacecraft with a rover to the martian moons Phobos and Deimos.
An agreement has been finalized regarding the collaboration of JAXA with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission.
This a major step since we have been successful in just taking the pictures of the surfaces of the moons with the help of the orbiters. The Japanese space agency, is set to launch a rover to one of these small moons in 2024 although the final destination is yet to be decided. The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is a spacecraft and is said to orbit both moons.
The spacecraft will enter the Martian orbit in 2025. It will then return to Earth with samples from the moons in 2029.
France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) is also helping JAXA in building the rover meant to explore one of those Martian moons. As per New Scientist, the rover could become the first one to ever land on a minor body in the solar system.
Knowing what they are made of could be of crucial advantage. For instance they could be a source of fuel making the travel reach greater distances with less fuel to be carried. The make-up could tell us more about the formation of our solar system.
