Moon of Mars - get set for Japanese spacecraft

Japan is trying to dig deeper into the Martian past, by scouring for soil samples on its moons.

 Moon of Mars - get set for Japanese spacecraft

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• The story: Japan aims to bring back soil samples from Mars' moon by 2029.
• Moons of Mars: Mars' two moons are among the smallest in the solar system. Phobos is a bit larger than Deimos, and orbits only 6,000 kilometers above the Martian surface. No known moon orbits closer to its planet. It circles Mars three times a day, while the more distant Deimos takes 30 hours for each orbit. Phobos is gradually spiraling inward, drawing about 1.8 meters closer to the planet each century. Within 50 million years, it will either crash into Mars or break up and form a ring around the planet. Like Earth's Moon, Phobos and Deimos always present the same face to their planet. Both are lumpy, heavily-cratered and covered in dust and loose rocks. They are among the darker objects in the solar system. The moons appear to be made of carbon-rich rock mixed with ice and may be captured asteroids.
• Why go there: By studying Phobos soil samples including material from Mars, scientists hope to learn about the evolution of the Martian biosphere. Japan’s space agency plans to bring soil samples back from the Mars region ahead of the US and Chinese missions now operating on Mars, in hopes of finding clues to the planet’s origin and traces of possible life.

1. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to launch an explorer in 2024 to land on the Martian moon Phobos to collect 10 grams of soil and bring it back to Earth in 2029.
2. The rapid return trip would put Japan ahead of the United States and China in bringing back samples from the Martian region despite starting later
3. NASA’s Perseverance rover is operating in a Mars crater where it is to collect 31 samples that are to be returned to Earth with help from the European Space Agency as early as 2031. China landed a spacecraft on Mars in May and plans to bring back samples around 2030.
4. JAXA scientists believe about 0.1% of the surface soil on Phobos came from Mars, and 10 grams could contain about 30 granules, depending on the consistency of the soil, Kawakatsu said.

• Expectation: Japanese scientists feel soil on Phobos is likely to be a mixture of material from the moon itself and material from Mars that was spread by sandstorms. Collecting samples from multiple locations on Phobos could provide a greater chance of obtaining possible traces of life from Mars than obtaining soil from a single location on Mars.
• Life forms: Any life forms that might have come from Mars will have died because of harsh solar and cosmic radiation on Phobos. The NASA and the European Space Agency missions focus on potential life forms and evolution of the area of the Jezero crater, believed to be an ancient lake. By studying Phobos soil samples including material from Mars, scientists hope to learn about the evolution of the Martian biosphere.

1. Japanese research on Phobos and NASA’s samples from specific locations in the Martian crater can complement each other and could lead to answers to questions such as how Martian life, if present, emerged and evolved in time and place.
2. In December 2020, a JAXA probe, Hayabusa2, brought back more than 5 grams of soil from the asteroid Ryugu, more than 300 million kilometers from Earth, in the world’s first successful return of an asteroid sample.

• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the speculations on possible life forms on Mars, early in its evolutionary period. What are the possibilities now? (2) Nations plan costly missions to other heavenly bodies, while crying needs of humanity back on Earth go unheeded. What is the right balance? Explain analytically taking the example of India and Japan.
  

#Japan #JAXA #NASA #Mars #Phobos #Deimos #ExtraterrestrialLife

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