JAXA posts MMX interview Thomas Statler

JAXA used its MMX social account on June 2 to highlight an interview with NASA scientist Thomas Statler about the Martian Moons eXploration mission, a Japanese-led effort to visit Mars’ two moons and bring material from Phobos back to Earth. Statler is NASA’s program scientist for MMX, according to his NASA biography. NASA says the mission will study both Phobos and Deimos, collect a sample from Phobos and return it to Earth. NASA’s mission page lists MMX as a 2026 launch mission with a planned Earth return in 2031. ### Who is Thomas Statler in the MMX mission? Thomas Statler is NASA’s program scientist for JAXA’s MMX mission, according to NASA’s staff biography. NASA identifies him as lead scientist for solar system small bodies in the agency’s Planetary Science Division and says he also serves on other small-body missions including Lucy and OSIRIS-APEX. That makes him NASA’s named scientific point person on the U.S. side of MMX. (science.nasa.gov) ### What is MMX trying to do at Mars? NASA says MMX’s main task is to explore Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, and return a sample from Phobos. The agency’s mission page says the broader science goal is to clarify the origin of the two moons and the evolution of Mars and its moon system. A NASA technical abstract on MMX says the mission plans to bring back more than 10 grams of Phobos material. (science.nasa.gov) ### Why is Phobos the sampling target? Phobos is the moon MMX is scheduled to sample directly, according to NASA mission material and technical papers tied to the project. A NASA technical abstract says MMX will use two sampling systems — a coring sampler and a pneumatic sampler — as part of the return architecture. Another NASA technical record says the spacecraft will conduct topographic and spectroscopic observations before landing on Phobos for sampling operations. (science.nasa.gov) ### What timeline has NASA published for the mission? NASA’s MMX mission page lists a proposed launch in 2026. A NASA technical abstract and related project material say the spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth in 2031, after operations around Mars that include work at Phobos. A JAXA-linked planetary protection presentation hosted by NASA says the mission is planned as a five-year trip with about three years spent around Mars before the return leg. (ntrs.nasa.gov) ### What is NASA contributing to JAXA’s mission? NASA said on March 15, 2024 that it had delivered its gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer instrument to JAXA for integration onto the MMX spacecraft and final system-level testing. NASA’s MMX acquisitions page also identifies Statler as the NASA program scientist overseeing the mission’s U.S. scientific involvement. The U.S. contribution is part of the broader partnership behind the Japanese-led sample-return mission. (science.nasa.gov) ### What happens next? NASA’s published mission material points to launch in 2026 as the next major milestone for MMX. After Mars-system operations and Phobos sampling, the mission’s sample capsule is scheduled to return to Earth in 2031, with curation work planned at ISAS/JAXA facilities, according to NASA technical records. (science.nasa.gov 1) (science.nasa.gov 2)