00:05Japan has launched a spacecraft on a first-of-its-kind journey to Mars where it will try to land
00:11on the planet's moon Furbus and bring a piece of it back to Earth.
00:15The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is leading the effort, launched a spacecraft before dawn on Tuesday from the main
00:24spaceport on Tanigashima Island, with officials declaring success an hour later when the spacecraft separated as planned from the rocket's
00:33upper stage.
00:34Five space agencies are backing the five-year mission, which will put a robotic sample collector and a small rover
00:41on Furbus, the larger and nearer of Mars' two tiny moons.
00:46The lander will spend just two hours on Furbus, drilling and vacuuming up at least 10 grams of material before
00:54launching back into space.
00:56NASA has landed nine spacecraft on Mars over the past 50 years and China touched down in 2021.
01:03But no one has ever ventured onto Furbus or its companion, Demus, and no one has returned samples from Mars,
01:11let alone its moons.
01:13If successful, dust, soil and rock from Furbus will reach Earth in 2031.
