TOKYO: (Bernama-Kyodo): The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Wednesday (Oct 21) confirmed that a spacecraft launched the previous day on a world-first mission to collect samples from one of Mars' moons is operating normally, Kyodo News reported.
The agency said the basic functions of the probe, including solar power generation, attitude control and communications, are functioning without issues.
The probe was carried aboard H3 rocket No 10 for the Martian Moons Exploration mission and placed into its planned orbit on Tuesday.
MMX, a Japan-led international mission to investigate the origins of the Martian moons, is scheduled to collect samples, including rocks and sand, from the Martian moon Phobos and return to Earth in July 2031.
If successful, it would mark the world's first sample return from the Martian system.
The spacecraft was launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Tanegashima, a small island in southwestern Japan.
Under the plan, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Mars in August 2027.
A rover jointly developed by French and German teams will then land on Phobos, after which the spacecraft will attempt two landings of its own.
The spacecraft will then observe Deimos, Mars's other moon, before leaving the planet's orbit in November 2030.
On its return to Earth, it will release a capsule containing the collected samples for recovery. - Bernama-Kyodo
