Filed under
sample-return
2 milestones, in chronological order.
- 23 January 2026The Present Push
Mars Sample Return runs out of money
Ten sealed tubes have lain in the dust at Three Forks since January 2023, waiting for a retrieval mission that Congress declined to fund three years later.
- 20 October 2026The Present Push
MMX leaves for Phobos to bring back a sample
Japan's MMX left Tanegashima on an H3 rocket for Phobos, the larger moon of Mars. It is to collect at least 10 grams of the moon's surface and bring them to Earth in 2031.