France and Japan are preparing to launch the international MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission on October 19, with the goal of investigating the origins of Mars's two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. The mission is supported by several space agencies, including JAXA (Japan), CNES (France), DLR (Germany), NASA (United States), and ESA (European Space Agency). A key component of the mission is a small scout rover named Idefix, developed by CNES and DLR. This rover will assist in collecting samples from Phobos and returning them to Earth, with the aim of delivering at least 10 grams of dust by 2031. The mission will be launched aboard Japan's new heavy-lift rocket, H3, which has recently received certification after facing some early challenges, including a few explosions during testing. The scientific objective is to address a long-standing debate: whether Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids or formed from debris after a massive impact on Mars. Understanding their origin could provide valuable insights into the early solar system. One of the main challenges of the mission is navigating around Phobos, which is only 24 km in diameter and has very weak gravity. This weak gravity makes it impossible to place a probe in a traditional orbit around Phobos. Instead, the MMX probe will use a technique known as quasi-satellite orbits (QSO) to accompany Phobos as it orbits Mars. The gravitational pull of Phobos is so weak that its influence extends only a few hundred meters, requiring precise control of the probe's speed to stay close. The Idefix rover, which weighs 25 kg on Earth, would weigh only 15 grams on Phobos due to the moon's extremely low gravity, which is about 2,000 times weaker than Earth's. This means even the smallest movement could send the rover into space, so it will move very slowly—between 1 and 3 cm per second. If it flips over during deployment, its four motorized legs will allow it to self-right automatically. The mission draws comparisons to the 2014 Rosetta mission, where the Philae lander bounced off the surface of a comet due to underestimated microgravity. Idefix will test the ground's consistency before the main module lands. The MMX probe and Idefix rover are equipped with a range of advanced instruments, including an infrared spectrometer, gamma and neutron spectrometer, high-resolution cameras, laser altimeter, and soil sampling system, among others.