Japan is leading an international five-year mission to launch a spacecraft on the world's first effort to bring back samples from Phobos, one of the two small, potato-shaped moons orbiting Mars.
The Japanese space agency project includes equipment and communications support from Nasa and other national space agencies. Scientists selected Phobos because it is closer to Mars than Deimos and may contain more information about the planet.
Researchers hope the mission will provide clues regarding the formation of Phobos and Deimos, and potentially shed light on the origins of life in the solar system. While some scientists suggest the moons could be captured asteroids, Phobos and Deimos are named after the Greek mythological personifications of fear and terror, the sons of the war god Ares.