Five of the world's space agencies have joined forces for the five-year mission that will attempt to land a robotic prospector plus a rover on Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons.

A Japanese spacecraft is rocketing toward Mars on an unprecedented quest to explore its mysterious moons and bring back samples

© NASA via AP

Four astronauts are back on Earth after an eight-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule splashed into the Pacific on Thursday. The U.S., French and Russian astronauts said before leaving the orbiting lab on Wednesday that they'll…