The Economic Times

Japan launches spacecraft to mysterious moons of Mars in a bold mission to bring home soil samples

Five of the worlds space agencies joined forces for the five-year mission that will attempt to land a robotic prospector plus a rover on Phobos, the larger and closer of Mars two pint-sized moons. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is leading the bold sampling effort, launched the spacecraft before dawn from the country's main spaceport on Tanegashima Island.