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# Extra tidbits on Japan’s MMX mission
- URL: https://jatan.space/jaxa-mmx-mission-tidbits/
- Published: 2020-10-19T18:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-06T13:47:16.000Z
- Author: Jatan Mehta

Here are some more interesting bits I didn’t get to cover in my [article on Japan's MMX mission](https://jatan.space/japan-mmx-mars-moons-sample-return/), which will collect samples from Mars’ moon Phobos.

- Slowing down from orbital speeds to a touch down under Phobos’ weak gravity is going to be incredibly challenging. Among other things, mission engineers are thus designing the spacecraft’s structure [to absorb far more energy](http://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp/?p=331&lang=en) on touchdown than Moon or Mars landers do, to avoid bouncing away or toppling.
- To test both MMX’s sampling mechanisms, engineers have built [simulants](http://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp/?p=157&lang=en) from rocks [collected from all over Japan](https://web.archive.org/web/20210215073740/http://mmx.isas.jaxa.jp/en/simulant). These simulants mimic different soil and rock structures expected on Phobos.
- The mission's official blog post on how [MMX could possibly collect organic samples](http://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp/?p=1049&lang=en) from Phobos
- The mission's official blog post on the [intriguing quasi-satellite orbit](http://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp/?p=458&lang=en)

![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/10/mmx-orbit.jpg)

The “Quasi-Satellite Orbit” that the MMX spacecraft will have around Mars allows it to be always close to Phobos. From Phobos, it looks like the spacecraft is orbiting it. [Image: JAXA](http://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp/?p=458&lang=en)

Last but not the least, check out JAXA’s dedicated and amazing [blog for the mission](https://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp/?lang=en).