A Japanese spacecraft is rocketing toward Mars on an unprecedented quest to explore its mysterious moons and bring back samples

Japan launched an uncrewed spacecraft toward the Martian moon Phobos on Tuesday (October 20) on a mission intended to become the first to collect samples from the small rocky body and return them to Earth for analysis.

NASA contributed to this first-of-its-kind mission that may help us understand how our solar system formed.

Japan launched an uncrewed spacecraft toward the Martian moon Phobos on Tuesday on a mission ​intended to become the first to collect samples ‌from the small rocky body and return them to Earth for analysis.