The Importance of Phobos Sample Return for Understanding the Mars-Moon System
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The Importance of Phobos Sample Return for Understanding the Mars-Moon System Tomohiro Usui1,2 · Ken-ichi Bajo3 · Wataru Fujiya4 · Yoshihiro Furukawa5 · Mizuho Koike1 · Yayoi N. Miura6 · Haruna Sugahara1 · Shogo Tachibana1,7 · Yoshinori Takano8 · Kiyoshi Kuramoto1,3
Received: 16 September 2019 / Accepted: 3 April 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Phobos and Deimos occupy unique positions both scientifically and programmatically on the road to the exploration of the solar system. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans a Phobos sample return mission (MMX: Martian Moons eXploration). The MMX spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2024, orbit both Phobos and Deimos (multiple flybys), and retrieve and return >10 g of Phobos regolith back to Earth in 2029. The Phobos regolith represents a mixture of endogenous Phobos building blocks and exogenous materials that contain solar system projectiles (e.g., interplanetary dust particles and coarser materials) and ejecta from Mars and Deimos. Under the condition that the representativeness of the sampling site(s) is guaranteed by remote sensing observations in the geologic context of Phobos, laboratory analysis (e.g., mineralogy, bulk composition, O-Cr-Ti isotopic systematics, and radiometric dating) of the returned sample will provide crucial information Role of Sample Return in Addressing Major Questions in Planetary Sciences Edited by Mahesh Anand, Sara Russell, Yangting Lin, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Kuljeet Kaur Marhas and Shogo Tachibana
B T. Usui
[email protected]
1
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan
2
Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
3
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, N10W8 Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
4
Ibaraki University, 2-1-1 Bunkyo, Mito, Ibaraki 310-8512, Japan
5
Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aza-aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
6
Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
7
UTOPS, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
8
Biogeochemistry Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
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about the moon’s origin: capture of an asteroid or in-situ formation by a giant impact. If Phobos proves to be a captured object, isotopic compositions of volatile elements (e.g., D/H, 13 C/12 C, 15 N/14 N) in inorganic and organic materials will shed light on both organicmineral-water/ice interactions in a primitive rocky body originally formed in the outer solar system and the delivery process of water and organics into the inner rocky planets. Keywords Phobos sample return · Origin of Martian moons · Martian Moons eXploration · Endogenous Phobos material · Mars-originating materials
1 Introduction The Mars-moon system is a most promising
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