NASA confirms contribution to Japanese-led Mars mission
(WorldNews Japan)

Artist’s concept of the MMX spacecraft at Phobos. Credit: JAXA/NASA NASA announced Thursday it will fund development of a scientific instrument that will fly on Japan’s Martian Moons Exploration mission, a robotic probe set for launch in 2024 to bring back the first samples from Mars’ largest moon Phobos. A neutron and gamma-ray spectrograph developed by a team led by David Lawrence of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, will help officials decide where the Japanese spacecraft will pick up samples on Phobos. Fitted with a souped-up propulsion module, landing legs and a sample carrier, the spacecraft will...