NAU professor, students assisting in mission to Mars to learn about its 2 moons

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COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. - A Northern Arizona University professor is involved in an out-of-this-world mission: discovering more about Mars’ two moons.

It’s a project that could also improve life here on Earth.

"If you think about this project—it’s pretty ambitious," said Dr. Christopher Edwards, associate professor in NAU's department of astronomy and planetary science.

He's over the moon about this opportunity.

"We’re going to send a spacecraft to orbit another planet, land on its moon, pick up samples and bring it back to Earth," Edwards explained.

Something that only comes around once in a blue moon, assisting in Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's mission to Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos.

"We don’t really understand how these things came to be or why they are there," he said.

The mission revolves around learning just that.

With a grant awarded by NASA, Edwards and students will assist in sending an uncrewed spacecraft to the moons to gather data about them and their surfaces, learning if there is water present, if they’re similar to our moon, and more.

"It’s questions like that, that in my opinion are fundamental to how we understand our place as humans in the solar system," Edwards said.

The project is slated to launch next year with samples getting returned to Earth expected in the early 20-30’s.

"There’s a lot of technology that continues to be developed as a part of these missions as well so, our ability to really push the limits to what human beings can really do with our technology," Edwards said.