Sara Russell

“It should be pretty much immediately obvious.. whether it's the product of this dramatic impact or whether it's a captured asteroid. So we'll find that out really quickly.”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Sara Russell said the sample should quickly reveal whether Phobos resulted from an impact or is a captured asteroid.

“And that means that the sample we get back may actually contain grains of Mars as well. So it can give us really direct information about the composition and history of Mars.”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Sara Russell said the Phobos sample may contain grains of Mars, providing direct information about Mars's composition and history.

“One of the really exciting things is that Phobos is so close to the Mars surface that whenever there's an impact into the Mars surface, little grains might actually become implanted into Phobos itself,”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Sara Russell noted that Phobos's proximity to Mars means impacts on Mars could implant grains into Phobos.

“The moon itself doesn't have very much of its own gravity,”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Sara Russell explained the difficulty of landing a rover on Phobos, a very small moon.

“I think this is an incredibly ambitious and fun mission,”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Prof Sara Russell described the MMX mission to retrieve material from Phobos as ambitious and fun.

“There hasn't yet been a successful mission to go to Phobos and bring a bit back to Earth.”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

The MMX mission led by the Japanese Space Agency aims to retrieve a sample from Mars's moon Phobos.

“When we get the sample back, we'll be able to look in detail at its chemistry and its mineral composition - and the two hypotheses will produce very distinct results,”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Sara Russell said analyzing the sample's chemistry and mineral composition could distinguish between two competing hypotheses about how Mars's moons formed.

“But it's next to an enormous planet that's got a much higher gravity, and that makes it much harder to get a rover onto the surface.”

Sara Russell · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-19

Sara Russell explained that Mars's high gravity makes landing a rover on Phobos difficult.