“NASA Teleconference to Detail US Contributions to JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration Mission” — what this page in the network covers. NASA will hold a media teleconference on Thursday, October 15 at 4 p.m. EDT to preview its contributions to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The mission is scheduled to launch from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on Monday, October 19 EDT (Tuesday, October 20 JST).
This briefing offers journalists and the public a closer look at the international collaboration behind MMX, which aims to study Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and return samples from Phobos to Earth. NASA’s involvement includes providing a neutron and gamma-ray spectrometer instrument, among other support, which will help scientists understand the moons’ origins and evolution. The mission could answer long-standing questions about whether these moons are captured asteroids or formed from debris after a giant impact on Mars. The full version stays on the original page, which this listing opens directly.