Japan to launch historic round-trip mission to Mars moon

Japanese scientists are preparing a mission to Mars’s moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region. The unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, a collaboration with US and European space agencies as well as numerous universities and tech companies, could also help lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration. The flagship H3 rocket carrying the MMX is set to blast off from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Tuesday at 4:41 am (00:41am PKT), according to the Japan…