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北京时间10月20日凌晨，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构（JAXA）在种子岛宇宙中心用H3火箭10号机发射了火星卫星探测器MMX（Martian Moons eXploration）。JAXA表示，火箭按计划飞行，起飞约71分钟后探测器成功分离并进入预定轨道。这项任务由日本主导，美国航天局（NASA）、欧洲航天局（ESA）、法国国家空间研究中心（CNES）和德国航空航天中心（DLR）参与。它的目标是火星较大的卫星火卫一（Phobos）：科学家至今不清楚火卫一和火卫二是被火星引力“捕获”的小行星，还是火星遭受巨大撞击后抛出的碎片形成的。按计划，MMX将在2027年8月抵达火星，2029年初向火卫一投放德法合作研制的Idefix巡视器，2030年自己着陆采集至少10克土壤，样品舱预计2031年落在澳大利亚。文章大致按“事件—背景问题—任务过程—技术难点—意义”展开。阅读时可留意 may、expected to、should 等词如何区分已经发生的事实与尚未实现的计划，以及 yet、but、so 如何连接疑问、转折和结果。

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Early on Tuesday, a rocket lifted off from an island in southern Japan. It carried a spacecraft with an unusual job: to visit Phobos, the larger of the two moons of Mars, and bring some of its soil back to Earth. If the plan works, scientists will study material from a Martian moon in their own laboratories for the first time.

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周二清晨，一枚火箭从日本南部的一座岛上升空。它搭载的探测器肩负着一项不同寻常的任务：前往火星两颗卫星中较大的火卫一，并把那里的一些土壤带回地球。如果计划顺利，科学家将第一次能在自己的实验室里研究来自火星卫星的物质。

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said its H3 rocket flew as planned after liftoff at 4:41 a.m. local time on October 20. About 71 minutes later, the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft separated from the rocket and entered its planned orbit. Japan leads the mission, with help from NASA and space agencies in Europe, France and Germany.

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日本宇宙航空研究开发机构（JAXA）表示，其H3火箭于当地时间10月20日凌晨4点41分起飞后按计划飞行。大约71分钟后，火星卫星探测器（MMX）与火箭分离，进入了预定轨道。这项任务由日本主导，美国航天局（NASA）以及欧洲、法国和德国的航天机构提供协助。

Why travel so far to visit such a small world? Phobos is only about 27 kilometres across, and Deimos, the other moon, is about 15 kilometres across. Yet scientists still do not know where they came from. They may be asteroids that were caught by the gravity of Mars. Or they may have formed from rock that was thrown into space after a giant object crashed into the planet. No spacecraft has stayed near them for long, so pictures alone have not settled the question.

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为什么要飞这么远去探访这样一个小天体？火卫一直径只有约27公里，另一颗卫星火卫二直径约15公里。然而，科学家至今仍不知道它们从何而来。它们可能是被火星引力捕获的小行星；也可能是某个巨大天体撞击火星后，被抛入太空的岩石形成的。还没有探测器在它们附近长时间停留过，所以仅凭照片还无法解答这个问题。

The journey will be long. MMX is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and then circle near Phobos. Around the start of 2029, it will drop a small rover called Idefix, built by German and French teams, onto the surface. The rover will study the ground for about 100 days and help prepare for the main landing. In 2030, the spacecraft itself will land and collect at least ten grams of soil. A capsule should carry the sample to Australia in 2031.

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这段旅程将会很漫长。MMX预计在2027年8月抵达火星，随后在火卫一附近环绕飞行。2029年初前后，它将向火卫一表面投放一辆名为Idefix的小型巡视器，这辆巡视器由德国和法国团队研制。巡视器将对地面进行约100天的研究，并为主探测器着陆做准备。2030年，探测器本身将着陆并采集至少10克土壤。按计划，一个返回舱将在2031年把样品送到澳大利亚。

Landing will not be easy. Gravity on Phobos is less than one-thousandth of the gravity on Earth, so the 25-kilogram rover will weigh only about as much as 15 grams there. Engineers had to design special ways to land, move and pick up material in such weak gravity.

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着陆并不容易。火卫一上的重力不到地球的千分之一，因此这辆25公斤的巡视器在那里只相当于15克重。工程师必须设计特殊的方法，才能在如此微弱的重力下着陆、移动和采集物质。

Ten grams may sound tiny, but researchers believe it can hold a lot of information. Elliot Sefton-Nash, a scientist at the European Space Agency, says the best instruments on Earth are too large or sensitive to send into space. Samples brought home can also be studied with better tools in the future. The trip may also show how to make round trips to the Mars system. Japan has done similar work before: its Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned material from an asteroid.

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10克听起来也许很少，但研究人员认为其中可能蕴含大量信息。欧洲航天局科学家埃利奥特·塞夫顿-纳什（Elliot Sefton-Nash）表示，地球上最好的仪器太大或太精密，无法送入太空。带回地球的样品将来还可以用更好的工具继续研究。这次旅程也可能展示如何往返火星系统。日本此前做过类似的工作：它的“隼鸟2号”探测器曾从一颗小行星带回物质。

新闻来源

• JAXA · Launch result of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft aboard H3 Launch Vehicle flight No.10 (20 Oct 2026)
• ESA · Mars moon lander set to launch on 19 October (13 Oct 2026)
• DLR · MMX mission successfully launched – Idefix rover on its way to Martian moon Phobos (19 Oct 2026)
• JAXA MMX · Mission Overview

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