NASA is collaborating with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on the Martian Moons eXploration mission. The project aims to determine the origins of Phobos and Deimos and return a sample of Phobos to Earth.
NASA provides the MEGANE spectrograph, developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the P-Sampler, created by Honeybee Robotics. The agency also offers navigation and communication support via its Deep Space Network.
The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Mars in August 2027. Sampling of Phobos is planned for no earlier than December 2028, with the return of materials to Earth expected in 2031.
NASA will receive and curate approximately 15% of the collected samples at the Johnson Space Center. These materials will be made available for long-term scientific research.
