Russia is about to take land on Mars's satellite

A Russian spacecraft will be launched on Mars's satellites next week for physical samples.

>>> Europe invites Russia to join the Mars project

Picture 1 of Russia is about to take land on Mars's satellite
Illustration Mars and satellite Phobos.

Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft and China's Yinghuo 1 will be launched on Mars's Phobos satellite using Zenit missiles at the Baikonur space airport in Kazakhstan on November 8. Phobos-Grunt carries Yinghuo 1, a Chinese spacecraft designed to study the red planet, Discovery reported.

If everything goes according to plan, the two spacecraft will arrive in Phobos after 11 months. They then split to fly in two different directions. Chinese ships flew around Mars, and Russian ships took samples of soil and rocks on Phobos satellite and returned.

Mars has two satellites Phobos and Deimos . Phobos are bigger and closer to Mars than Deimos.

The origins of Phobos and Deimos are one of the questions that astronomers have yet to find answers to. If you know where they are made, humans will better understand the history of the solar system's formation.

This is the first time Russia has launched a ship on an object in the solar system since 1996, when a Mars probe exploded right after its launch. The Russian Federal Space Agency has been planning to launch Phobos-Grunt since 2009, but the plan must be delayed for two years.