NASA Details Role in JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) Mission Ahead of October 19 Launch

NASA is collaborating with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which aims to characterize and determine the origin of Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos, and return a sample of Phobos to Earth. The mission is targeting a launch on Monday, October 19 (EDT) or Tuesday, October 20 (JST). NASA's contributions include the Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma rays and Neutrons (MEGANE) spectrograph instrument and the Pneumatic Sampler (P-Sampler) technology.