# Japan launches historic mission to return samples from Mars’s moon

https://mins.news/en/item/107276

- Al Jazeera, 2026-10-20 04:08 UTC
- Science
- Original: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/10/20/japan-launches-historic-mission-to-bring-back-mars-moon-samples?traffic_source=rss

> Japan has begun a five-year uncrewed mission to collect samples from Phobos and return them to Earth by 2031. If successful, it will be the first mission to bring back samples from a moon of Mars for scientific study.

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- [Japan launches unprecedented mission to return samples from Mars’ moon Phobos](https://mins.news/en/item/107275) — euronews, 2026-10-20
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- [Japan launches mission to return samples from Mars moon](https://mins.news/en/item/107219) — CGTN, 2026-10-20
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