Moment Japan launches historic mission to collect rocks from Mars’s moon

Japan has successfully launched a spacecraft as part of a mission to bring back material from Phobos, one of Mars’s moons, which scientists hope will shed light on the origins of the solar system. It is expected to reach Mars’s orbit in August 2027 and is scheduled to return in 2031, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa). ‘Once-in-a-lifetime chance’: Japan launches historic mission to collect rocks from Mars’s moon Phobos