Japan launches spacecraft to bring back samples from Mars's moon Phobos

Japan has launched a space mission aimed at collecting samples from Phobos, a moon of Mars, and bringing them back to Earth.

Japan's space agency, JAXA, successfully launched the unmanned spacecraft on Tuesday. The mission is being regarded as a historic undertaking.

Under the mission, the goal is to bring back 10 grams of dust from the Mars moon to Earth.

The mission is expected to help provide further information about the origin of the solar system and about life on Earth.