Veteran ESA probe rolls out welcome mat for Japan's Phobos mission

Japan's mission to the Martian moon Phobos launched this week, with a veteran European probe expected to be waiting when it arrives. JAXA, Japan's space agency, confirmed that the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft launched aboard an H3 rocket on October 19 at 19:41 UTC – October 20 in Japan. On October 21, it said that initial critical operations, including solar array deployment, were complete.