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The Mars system revealed by the Martian Moons eXploration mission

Montmessin, Franck; Leblanc, François; Vandaele, Ann Carine +21 more

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans a Phobos sample return mission (MMX: Martian Moons eXploration). In this study, we review the related works on the past climate of Mars, its evolution, and the present climate and weather to describe the scientific goals and strategies of the MMX mission regarding the evolution of the Martian surface…

The MMX rover: performing in situ surface investigations on Phobos

Michel, Patrick; Murdoch, Naomi; Zhang, Yun +22 more

The Japanese MMX sample return mission to Phobos by JAXA will carry a rover developed by CNES and DLR that will be deployed on Phobos to perform in situ analysis of the Martian moon's surface properties. Past images of the surface of Phobos show that it is covered by a layer of regolith. However, the mechanical and compositional properties of this…