THE NEW SPACE RACE: Returning the first samples from a Martian moon: Inside the science of Japan’s bold MMX mission to Mars. “The mission, known as Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), is a first-of-its-kind endeavor to study the origin of Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos. The robust undertaking includes a landing on Phobos to collect the samples — which will likely be the first from the Mars system to return to Earth — and a search for evidence that could shed light on events during the formation of the solar system billions of years ago.”