Surface science on Phobos with the navigation cameras of the MMX IDEFIX rover

Kurzfassung

Phobos, the largest and closest moon to Mars, is the principal target of the Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) JAXA mission, which is scheduled for launch in 2026. The mission will orbit Phobos and perform multiple fly-bys of Deimos, send a rover to the surface of Phobos (Michel et al., 2022) and retrieve and return ≥10g of Phobos regolith back to Earth in 2031 (Kawakatsu et al., 2023; Kuramoto et al., 2022). The primary objective of the mission is to provide a definitive answer regarding the origin of the martian moons. The mission comprises an orbiter and a small rover, designated IDEFIX. The latter is a contribution from the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The instrument suite on board the rover will comprise the navigation cameras (a stereo pair), two wheel cameras, a Raman spectrometer and a mini radiometer. The cameras (NavCams & Wheelcams) are a contribution from CNES, whereas the remaining two instruments are provided by DLR.