Editor’s note: This story has been updated to adjust the timeframe for spacecraft arrival and sample collection. NASA is playing an important role in JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission, to advance our understanding of Mars’ moons and build on the agency’s long history of exploring the Red Planet.
编者注：本文已更新，以调整航天器抵达和样本采集的时间范围。 NASA 在 JAXA（日本宇宙航空研究开发机构）的 MMX（火星卫星探索）任务中发挥着重要作用，以增进我们对火星卫星的了解，并以该机构探索这颗红色星球的悠久历史为基础。
The mission aims to characterize and determine the origin of Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos and deliver a sample of Phobos to Earth. The MMX spacecraft is targeting launch from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 3:41 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 19 (4:41 a.m. JST on Tuesday, Oct. 20).
该任务旨在描述和确定火星卫星火卫一和火卫二的起源，并将火卫一样本运送到地球。 MMX 航天器计划于下午 3 点 41 分从日本 JAXA 种子岛航天中心发射。美国东部时间 10 月 19 日星期一（日本标准时间 10 月 20 日星期二凌晨 4:41）。
“The samples from MMX will bring forth paradigm-shifting science on the Mars system for generations to come, especially as NASA prepares to send the first humans to Mars,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The NASA-JAXA sample curation partnership is extremely valuable, and I am proud that NASA Science is supporting MMX sample curation and will be sharing portions of these samples for study as we continue to expand humanity’s understanding of the universe for the benefit of all.”
美国宇航局华盛顿总部科学任务理事会副局长尼基·福克斯 (Nicky Fox) 表示：“来自 MMX 的样本将为子孙后代带来火星系统范式转变的科学，特别是在美国宇航局准备将第一批人类送往火星之际。” “NASA-JAXA 样本管理合作伙伴关系非常有价值，我很自豪 NASA Science 正在支持 MMX 样本管理，并将分享这些样本的部分内容以供研究，因为我们将继续扩大人类对宇宙的了解，造福所有人。”
NASA’s contributions to the mission include the Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma rays and Neutrons (MEGANE) spectrograph instrument, the Pneumatic Sampler (P-Sampler) technology demonstration, and communications and navigation support from the agency’s Deep Space Network , as well as funding United States scientists participating on the MMX science team.
NASA 对该任务的贡献包括伽马射线和中子火星月球探索 (MEGANE) 摄谱仪、气动采样器 (P-Sampler) 技术演示、该机构深空网络的通信和导航支持，以及资助参与 MMX 科学团队的美国科学家。
Scientists have long debated the origin of Mars’ two moons. The data and samples collected by the MMX mission will help answer essential questions about the origins of these moons and the history of the solar system.
长期以来，科学家们一直在争论火星两颗卫星的起源。 MMX 任务收集的数据和样本将有助于回答有关这些卫星起源和太阳系历史的基本问题。
“Phobos and Deimos may be the remains of a massive impact on Mars that sent material into orbit around the planet, or they could be ancient asteroids that were captured by Mars’ gravity billions of years ago,” said Tom Statler, MMX program executive and program scientist at NASA Headquarters. “Having the answer will help illuminate that early era when Earth and the other inner planets may have been acquiring much of their water and organic compounds.”
美国宇航局总部 MMX 项目执行官兼项目科学家汤姆·斯塔特勒 (Tom Statler) 表示：“火卫一和火卫二可能是对火星发生大规模撞击的遗迹，这些撞击将物质送入了环绕地球的轨道，也可能是数十亿年前被火星引力捕获的古老小行星。” “找到答案将有助于阐明地球和其他内行星可能已经获取大量水和有机化合物的早期时代。”
The MEGANE (pronounced meh-GAH-nay, the Japanese word for eyeglasses) spectrograph will help scientists “see” what Phobos is made of by measuring neutrons and gamma rays emitted from the moon’s surface and determining its chemical elemental composition, which will provide important clues about its origin.
MEGANE（发音为meh-GAH-nay，日语中眼镜的意思）摄谱仪将通过测量从月球表面发射的中子和伽马射线并确定其化学元素成分，帮助科学家“了解”火卫一的构成，这将提供有关其起源的重要线索。
Mounted on one of the spacecraft’s landing legs, the P-Sampler is designed to collect a ground sample from Phobos. The system gathers surface material using bursts of high-pressure nitrogen gas, complementing JAXA’s C-Sampler, which will extract cores from a few inches deeper. NASA will obtain and curate about 15% of the total returned sample at the agency’s Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Lab in Houston, making it available for research for decades.
P-Sampler 安装在航天器的一个着陆腿上，旨在从火卫一收集地面样本。该系统利用高压氮气爆发来收集表面材料，与 JAXA 的 C-Sampler 相辅相成，后者将从几英寸深的地方提取岩心。 NASA 将在该机构位于休斯敦的约翰逊航天中心天体材料实验室获取并保管返回样本总量的约 15%，使其可用于数十年的研究。
Another key part of NASA’s contribution to MMX is its scientific partnership with JAXA. NASA-supported researchers are working alongside international colleagues to help reveal the story of Phobos and will use mission data and returned samples to uncover new clues about the moon’s origin and the evolution of the Mars system.
NASA 对 MMX 贡献的另一个关键部分是其与 JAXA 的科学合作伙伴关系。美国宇航局支持的研究人员正在与国际同事合作，帮助揭示火卫一的故事，并将利用任务数据和返回的样本来发现有关月球起源和火星系统演化的新线索。
The MMX spacecraft will arrive at Mars in 2027 to begin its survey of the Red Planet’s two moons. After surveying Phobos in detail, the spacecraft will collect a sample of the moon’s surface no earlier than 2028 and deliver it to Earth in 2031.
MMX 航天器将于 2027 年抵达火星，开始对这颗红色星球的两颗卫星进行勘测。在对火卫一进行详细勘察后，该航天器将不早于2028年收集月球表面样本，并于2031年将其传送到地球。
The MEGANE instrument was developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, developed the spacecraft’s pneumatic sampler mechanism. NASA’s contributions to the MMX mission were developed under the agency’s Discovery Program. The Discovery Program is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
MEGANE 仪器由约翰霍普金斯大学应用物理实验室开发。蓝色起源公司旗下的蜜蜂机器人公司开发了航天器的气动采样器机构。 NASA 对 MMX 任务的贡献是在该机构的发现计划下开发的。发现计划由美国宇航局位于阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的马歇尔太空飞行中心为该机构位于华盛顿的科学任务理事会管理。
For more information about the MMX mission, visit:
有关 MMX 任务的更多信息，请访问：
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson Headquarters, Washington 240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
凯伦·福克斯 / 阿兰娜·约翰逊 华盛顿总部 240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov