Japan’s Mission to Snatch a Sample of a Martian Moon Launches Today. Here’s How to Watch

Rovers have traversed Mars’s rocky terrain for nearly 30 years, analyzing surface samples to help scientists unravel the Red Planet’s geological history. But its two moons, Phobos and Deimos, remain largely unexplored. That’s finally about to change.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission today at 3:41 p.m. ET. The first-of-its-kind endeavor will send a spacecraft to survey both of Mars’s moons, collect a sample of Phobos, and bring it back to…