Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) is the 3rd Japanese sample return mission following Hayabusa and Hayabusa-2. The MMX mission transitioned to become a JAXA Project: an official step in mission development (Phase B) in February 2020. The MMX spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2024, orbit both Phobos and Deimos (multi-flyby), and retrieve and return >10 g of Phobos regolith back to Earth in 2029. The origins of Phobos and Deimos are still a matter of significant debate: capture of asteroids or in-situ formation by a giant impact on Mars. In either case, MMX will definitely provide clues about their origins and offer an opportunity to directly explore the satellite building blocks or juvenile crust/mantle components of Mars. MMX will also aim to understand physical processes in the circumplanetary environment of Mars. The new knowledge of Phobos/Deimos and Mars will be further leveraged to constrain the initial condition of the Mars-moon system and to gain vital insights regarding the sources and delivery process of water (and organics) into the inner rocky planets.
ABOUT DR. TOMOHIRO USUI
Tomohiro Usui received his degree in geology from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1999 and his Ph.D. in geochemistry from Okayama University in 2004. He worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Tennessee as well as the NASA Johnson Space Center. From 2012 to 2018, he was a faculty professor of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and an associate PI at the Earth-Life Science Institute of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Since 2018, Usui is a full professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. He currently serves as a Science Board organizer of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. His current research interest spans from the historical evolution of climate, oceans, and lakes to the habitability on Mars.
"On Things to Come" Online Seminars
2020/2021 Schedule
23 September 2020: Prof. Geraint Jones – The Comet Interceptor Mission [YouTube/Youku]
21 October 2020: Prof. Ralph Lorenz – The Dragonfly Mission [YouTube/Youku]
4 November 2020: Prof. Wang Chi – The SMILE Mission [YouTube/Youku]
25 November 2020: Prof. Heike Rauer – The PLATO Mission [YouTube/Youku]
9 December 2020: Prof. Takehiko Satoh – The Akatsuki Mission [YouTube/Bilibili]
18 December 2020: Dr. Olivier Witasse – The JUICE Mission --> Register
21 December, 4 PM (GMT+8): Dr. Tomohiro Usui – Phobos Mission --> Register
13 January 2021: Prof. Weiqun Gan – The ASO-S Mission
27 January 2021: Prof. Giovanna Tinetti – The Ariel Mission
24 February 2021: Prof. Johannes Benkhoff – The BepiColombo Mission I
10 March 2021: Dr. Gabriele Cremonese – The BepiColombo Mission II
24 March 2021: Prof. Go Murakami – The BepiColombo Mission III
7 April 2021: Prof. Yoshifumi Saito – The BepiColombo Mission IV
21 April 2021: Prof. Stefano Vitale – The LISA Mission
19 May 2021: Prof. Saem Krucker – The Solar Orbiter Mission
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