Japan launches a daring mission to bring the first rock samples from Mars's moon Phobos back to Earth by 2031

An H3 rocket blasted off before dawn from Tanegashima Space Center, and flight controllers leapt to their feet when the spacecraft separated an hour later. Five space agencies are behind the Martian Moons Exploration mission, or MMX. It reaches the Mars system in August 2027 and lands on Phobos in 2030. A capsule carrying at least 10g of dust then lands in Australia.

A French-German rover called Idefix will scout the moon's surface first, a feat never achieved before.

Dr Megan Argo says the dust could hold traces of ancient Martian life, though only remotely.

Phobos is a lumpy, potato-shaped rock roughly 14 miles across, and nobody knows how it formed.