The Japanese space agency is planning to bring Mars soil samples to Earth, in hopes to find clues to the planet’s origin and signs of possible life. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, will be launching an explorer in 2024 that will land on Martian moon Phobos to collect 10g of soil and bring it back by 2029.

Japan locking horns with the US and China

The return trip will put Japan ahead of the US and China in bringing back soil samples from the Martian region, project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu noted during a conference. NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently trying to collect samples and will be collecting a total of 31 samples for the return mission to Earth with the aid of ESA by 2031. China landed a spacecraft on the Red Planet in May and plans to bring back samples around 2030.

JAXA scientists believe about 0.1 percent of the surface soil on Phobos belongs to Mars and 10g could comprise around 30 granules, but that is subjected to the consistency of the soil, Kawakatsu said. Any life forms that might have come on the Red Planet will have died due to its harsh solar and cosmic radiation on the Martian moon, JAXA scientists said.

Signs on life on Mars

NASA and the European Space Agency missions will focus on finding the potential life forms and evolution of the Jezero crater region that is believed to be an ancient lake. By observing Phobos soil samples including materials from Mars, astronomers hope to learn about the evolution of the planet’s biosphere, Usui said.

Besides, JAXA has plans to pull off something that hasn’t been done until now. The Japanese space agency is planning to deploy a transformable baseball-sized robot on the lunar surface in 2022. The robot will collect data on the dust found on the Moon. The extracted data will be useful in designing the crewed pressurized rover. The robot will be a joint venture between JAXA, TOMY Company, Ltd. (Tomy Company), Sony Group Corporation (Sony), and Doshisha University.