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Martian Moons eXploration: The scientific investigations of Mars and its moons

Earth, Planets and Space welcomes submissions to this special issue on “Martian Moons eXploration: The scientific investigations of Mars and its moons”. With a planned launch in 2024, the MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) spacecraft will visit both Martian moons (Phobos and Deimos) and collect > 10-g samples from the surface of Phobos before returning to Earth in 2029. This will be the first round trip from Earth, to the Martian system, and back. This Special Issue solicits contributions on various aspects pertinent to the MMX mission, including scientific investigations of Mars and its moons, and submissions are encouraged from the broad scientific community.


Submission Instructions

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission Guidelines  Earth, Planets and Space. The complete manuscript should be submitted through the Earth, Planets and Space submission system. To ensure that you submit to the correct special issue please select the appropriate special issue in the drop-down menu upon submission. In addition, indicate within your cover letter that you wish your manuscript to be considered as part of the special issue on 'Martian Moons eXploration: The scientific investigations of Mars and its moons'. All submissions will undergo rigorous peer review and accepted articles will be published within the journal as a collection.


Deadline for submissions: 15 January 2021


Lead Guest Editor
Hidenori Genda, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

Guest Editors
Tomohiro Usui, ISAS, JAXA, Japan 
Nancy L. Chabot ,  The Johns Hopkins University, USA
Ramses Ramirez, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Keiji Ohtsuki, Kobe University, Japan


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For editorial enquiries please contact editorial@earth-planets-space.com.

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  2. We created high-resolution shape models of Phobos and Deimos using stereophotoclinometry and united images from Viking Orbiter, Phobos 2, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter int...

    Authors: Carolyn M. Ernst, R. Terik Daly, Robert W. Gaskell, Olivier S. Barnouin, Hari Nair, Benjamin A. Hyatt, Manar M. Al Asad and Kielan K. W. Hoch
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2023 75:103
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  3. Martian moons exploration, MMX, is the new sample return mission planned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) targeting the two Martian moons with the scheduled launch in 2024 and return to the Ear...

    Authors: Kiyoshi Kuramoto, Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, Masaki Fujimoto, Akito Araya, Maria Antonietta Barucci, Hidenori Genda, Naru Hirata, Hitoshi Ikeda, Takeshi Imamura, Jörn Helbert, Shingo Kameda, Masanori Kobayashi, Hiroki Kusano, David J. Lawrence, Koji Matsumoto, Patrick Michel…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2022 74:12
    Content type: Frontier Letter Published on:

  4. The Japanese MMX sample return mission to Phobos by JAXA will carry a rover developed by CNES and DLR that will be deployed on Phobos to perform in situ analysis of the Martian moon’s surface properties. Past ...

    Authors: Patrick Michel, Stephan Ulamec, Ute Böttger, Matthias Grott, Naomi Murdoch, Pierre Vernazza, Cecily Sunday, Yun Zhang, Rudy Valette, Romain Castellani, Jens Biele, Simon Tardivel, Olivier Groussin, Laurent Jorda, Jörg Knollenberg, Jan Thimo Grundmann…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2022 74:2
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  5. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans a Phobos sample return mission (MMX: Martian Moons eXploration). In this study, we review the related works on the past climate of Mars, its evolution, and the p...

    Authors: Kazunori Ogohara, Hiromu Nakagawa, Shohei Aoki, Toru Kouyama, Tomohiro Usui, Naoki Terada, Takeshi Imamura, Franck Montmessin, David Brain, Alain Doressoundiram, Thomas Gautier, Takuya Hara, Yuki Harada, Hitoshi Ikeda, Mizuho Koike, François Leblanc…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2022 74:1
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  6. Mineralogy is the key to understanding the origin of Phobos and its position in the evolution of the Solar System. In situ Raman spectroscopy on Phobos is an important tool to achieve the scientific objectives...

    Authors: Yuichiro Cho, Ute Böttger, Fernando Rull, Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers, Tomàs Belenguer, Anko Börner, Maximilian Buder, Yuri Bunduki, Enrico Dietz, Till Hagelschuer, Shingo Kameda, Emanuel Kopp, Matthias Lieder, Guillermo Lopez-Reyes, Andoni Gaizka Moral Inza, Shoki Mori…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:232
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  7. The science operations of the spacecraft and remote sensing instruments for the Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) mission are discussed by the mission operation working team. In this paper, we describe the Phobos...

    Authors: Tomoki Nakamura, Hitoshi Ikeda, Toru Kouyama, Hiromu Nakagawa, Hiroki Kusano, Hiroki Senshu, Shingo Kameda, Koji Matsumoto, Ferran Gonzalez-Franquesa, Naoya Ozaki, Yosuke Takeo, Nicola Baresi, Yusuke Oki, David J. Lawrence, Nancy L. Chabot, Patrick N. Peplowski…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:227
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  8. In order to investigate the origin of Phobos and Deimos, the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is scheduled for launch in 2024. MMX will make comprehensive remote-sensing measurements of both mo...

    Authors: Koji Matsumoto, Naru Hirata, Hitoshi Ikeda, Toru Kouyama, Hiroki Senshu, Keiko Yamamoto, Hirotomo Noda, Hideaki Miyamoto, Akito Araya, Hiroshi Araki, Shunichi Kamata, Nicola Baresi and Noriyuki Namiki
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:226
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  9. An altimeter is a critical instrument in planetary missions, for both safe operations and science activities. We present required specifications and link budget calculations for light detection and ranging (LI...

    Authors: Hiroki Senshu, Takahide Mizuno, Kazuhiro Umetani, Toru Nakura, Akihiro Konishi, Akihiko Ogawa, Hirokazu Ikeda, Koji Matsumoto, Hirotomo Noda, Yoshiaki Ishihara, Sho Sasaki, Naoki Tateno, Yasuyuki Ikuse, Katsunori Mayuzumi, Teiji Kase and Hisayoshi Kashine
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:219
    Content type: Technical report Published on:

  10. The JAXA’s Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission is planned to reveal the origin of Phobos and Deimos. It will remotely observe both moons and return a sample from Phobos. The nominal instruments include the...

    Authors: Shingo Kameda, Masanobu Ozaki, Keigo Enya, Ryota Fuse, Toru Kouyama, Naoya Sakatani, Hidehiko Suzuki, Naoya Osada, Hiroki Kato, Hideaki Miyamoto, Atsushi Yamazaki, Tomoki Nakamura, Takaya Okamoto, Takahiro Ishimaru, Peng Hong, Ko Ishibashi…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:218
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  11. The MEGANE instrument onboard the MMX mission will acquire gamma-ray and neutron spectroscopy data of Phobos to determine the elemental composition of the martian moon and provide key constraints on its origin...

    Authors: Nancy L. Chabot, Patrick N. Peplowski, Carolyn M. Ernst, Hari Nair, Michael Lucks, R. Josh Steele and David J. Lawrence
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:217
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  12. The mass spectrum analyzer (MSA) will perform in situ observations of ions and magnetic fields around Phobos as part of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to investigate the origin of the Martian moon...

    Authors: Shoichiro Yokota, Naoki Terada, Ayako Matsuoka, Naofumi Murata, Yoshifumi Saito, Dominique Delcourt, Yoshifumi Futaana, Kanako Seki, Micah J. Schaible, Kazushi Asamura, Satoshi Kasahara, Hiromu Nakagawa, Masaki N. Nishino, Reiko Nomura, Kunihiro Keika, Yuki Harada…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:216
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  13. The surfaces of the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos may offer a stable environment for long-term operation of platforms. We present a broad assessment of potential scientific investigations, as well as strate...

    Authors: Elliot Sefton-Nash, Guillaume Thébault, Olivier Witasse, Detlef Koschny, Beatriz Sánchez-Cano and Alejandro Cardesín-Moinelo
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:215
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  14. The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission will study the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, Mars, and their environments. The mission scenario includes both landing on the surface of Phobos to collect samples ...

    Authors: Hideaki Miyamoto, Takafumi Niihara, Koji Wada, Kazunori Ogawa, Hiroki Senshu, Patrick Michel, Hiroshi Kikuchi, Ryodo Hemmi, Tomoki Nakamura, Akiko M. Nakamura, Naoyuki Hirata, Sho Sasaki, Erik Asphaug, Daniel T. Britt, Paul A. Abell, Ronald-Louis Ballouz…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:214
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  15. The mothership of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) will perform the first landing and sampling on the surface of Phobos. For the safe landing, the 2.1-m-wide mothership of the MMX should find a smooth surfa...

    Authors: Tomohiro Takemura, Hideaki Miyamoto, Ryodo Hemmi, Takafumi Niihara and Patrick Michel
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:213
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  16. The MMX infrared spectrometer (MIRS) is an imaging spectrometer onboard MMX JAXA mission. MMX (Martian Moon eXploration) is scheduled to be launched in 2024 with sample return to Earth in 2029. MIRS is built a...

    Authors: Maria Antonietta Barucci, Jean-Michel Reess, Pernelle Bernardi, Alain Doressoundiram, Sonia Fornasier, Michel Le Du, Takahiro Iwata, Hiromu Nakagawa, Tomoki Nakamura, Yves André, Shohei Aoki, Takehiko Arai, Elisa Baldit, Pierre Beck, Jean-Tristan Buey, Elisabet Canalias…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:211
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  17. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch a spacecraft in 2024 for a sample return mission from Phobos (Martian Moons eXploration: MMX). Touchdown operations are planned to be performed twice at di...

    Authors: Wataru Fujiya, Yoshihiro Furukawa, Haruna Sugahara, Mizuho Koike, Ken-ichi Bajo, Nancy L. Chabot, Yayoi N. Miura, Frederic Moynier, Sara S. Russell, Shogo Tachibana, Yoshinori Takano, Tomohiro Usui and Michael E. Zolensky
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:120
    Content type: Full paper Published on:

  18. The Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft is a JAXA mission to Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. MMX will be equipped with the Circum-Martian Dust Monitor (CMDM) which is a newly developed light-weight (

    Authors: Harald Krüger, Masanori Kobayashi, Peter Strub, Georg-Moragas Klostermeyer, Maximilian Sommer, Hiroshi Kimura, Eberhard Grün and Ralf Srama
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2021 73:93
    Content type: Full paper Published on: