Japan Launches Mission to Bring Back Bits of a Martian Moon; Perth Asks If It Could Do the Same for a Bus
Spacecraft will scoop samples from Phobos and bring them home, 'which is more than some services manage on a Sunday'.
Rocket models on display in Japan. The real one is now well past Dundee. Photo: Raspico, “筑波宇宙センターに展示される歴代ロケットの模型”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
PERTH — Japan’s space agency has launched its Martian Moons eXploration mission, which aims to land on Phobos, collect samples and return them to Earth, a feat Perth residents called “impressive, but no’ as hard as getting to Inverness on a Sunday.”
“Going to Mars, landing on a moon, picking up rocks and coming home? Fair play,” said one bus passenger. “But I’ve been trying to get from Letham to the park-and-ride since Thursday. If they’ve a spare rocket, I’ll take it.”
The spacecraft, launched on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima, carries instruments from international partners and a small rover.
“Phobos is a lumpy, cratered, potato-shaped object,” said one Perthshire astronomer. “So in some ways it’s a lot like Dunkeld Road.”
The real story: JAXA: Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) launched aboard H3 from Tanegashima, 20 Oct 2026
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