A Rover for the MMX Mission to investigate the surface of Phobos

Kurzfassung

The Mars Moon eXploration (MMX) mission by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, will investigate the Martian Moons Phobos and Deimos. It will return samples from Phobos to Earth and deliver a small (about 25 kg) rover to the surface. This rover which is a contribution by the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) with additional contributions from INTA (Spain) and JAXA. Is going to be delivered by the mother spacecraft from low (<100m) altitude and will investigate the surface of Phobos with a payload of four scientific instruments: a Raman spectrometer (RAX) to measure the mineralogical composition of the surface material, a stereo pair of navigation cameras looking affront NAVCam, a radiometer (miniRAD) to measure the surface brightness temperature and determine thermal properties of both regolith and rocks (if in the field of view), and two cameras looking at the interface between wheel and surface, WheelCam. The Rover will provide scientific data on the regolith properties, provide ground truth for the orbiter instruments and give context information for the returned samples. It will also demonstrate the technology of locomotion on a low gravity body. The MMX Rover shall be able to operate for about 100 days and investigate the terrain along its path of several tens of meters. MMX will be launched in September 2024, the Rover delivery is currently planned for 2026 - 2027.