Phobos Surface Science with the MMX Rover

Abstract

The Mars Moon eXploration (MMX) mission by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, which is going to explore the Martian Moons Phobos and Deimos and also return samples from Phobos back to Earth will also deliver a small (about 25 kg) Rover to the surface of Phobos. The payload of this rover consists of a Raman spectrometer (RAX) to measure the mineralogical composition of the surface material, a stereo pair of cameras looking affront (NavCam, also used for navigation) to provide the properties of the investigated area, a radiometer (miniRAD) to measure the surface brightness temperature and determine thermal properties of both regolith and rocks, and two cameras looking at the wheel-surface interface (WheelCam) to investigate the properties and dynamics of the regolith. The cameras will, thus, serve for both, technological and scientific needs. After the Rover has been delivered by the main spacecraft, it shall upright itself and operate for about 100 days on the surface of Phobos to investigate terrain and mineralogy along its path. The measurements are going to provide ground truth by studying in-situ properties such as the physical properties and heterogeneity of the surface material. MMX is planned to be launched in September 2024, the Rover delivery is currently planned for 2027. The Rover 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.