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Japan's MMX mission aims to return samples from Mars moon Phobos

JAXA leads the mission with NASA instruments, and a capsule carrying Phobos samples is due to land in Australia in twenty thirty-one; the rover is named after a comic dog.

On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on The Weekend Shift
Published 3:42 PM ET, Sunday, October 18, 2026

Photo: Naritama (NARITA Masahiro) · CC BY 2.1 jp · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

▶ As it aired · Tech

Watch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from The Weekend Shift at 3:42 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Space.com's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: JAXA — Photo: Naritama (NARITA Masahiro) · CC BY 2.1 jp · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

At a glance

First reported by Space.com: “Returning samples from a Mars moon: Inside the science of Japan's bold MMX mission”.
Covered on BBN on Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 3:42 PM ET on The Weekend Shift, by Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield.
Topics: Phobos, Mars, Japan.
BBN covered this story before: France's school protests grow into a national political crisis (October 18).

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

Space.comReturning samples from a Mars moon: Inside the science of Japan's bold MMX mission

What BBN said about it

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentJapan's MMX spacecraft launches Monday to bring back ten grams of Phobos, which could settle whether Mars' moons are captured asteroids or leftovers from a giant impact.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe project manager calls Phobos an unexplored frontier for humankind, and humankind's first representative there is a cartoon dog from Asterix.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentTen months to get there, three years of study, samples landing in Australia in twenty thirty-one, and you're excited about the dog.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentBefore the top of the hour, find out what one diner discovered in her Democrat taco.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentBrock, is there weather on Phobos, because the dog needs to know.

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The story so far

Oct 16NASA's Perseverance Rover Sets World Record For Longest Drive On Mars · NDTV
Oct 17Egypt seeks authority to aid Saudi Arabia; Japan's Phobos launch · Al Jazeera
Oct 18Japan readies round-trip mission to Mars moon · Japan Today
Oct 18Cloud of the Week: feathery carbon dioxide clouds on Mars · commons.wikimedia.org
Oct 18Flower named for Messi found in Peru; Japan readies Phobos sample… · MARCA
Oct 18France's school protests grow into a national political crisis · Al Jazeera
Oct 18Japan's MMX mission aims to return samples from Mars moon Phobos (this story)

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Japan's MMX mission aims to return samples from Mars moon Phobos

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The real story

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