The National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) shortlisted nine potential landing sites near the lunar South Pole for its upcoming Artemis III mission. This is the American space agency's first crewed Moon landing in over 50 years. These locations are set to undergo thorough scientific and engineering assessments, and NASA plans to continue exploring other areas for future missions beyond this selection.
The nine proposed lunar landing regions situated near the South Pole are:
- Peak near Cabeus B
- Haworth
- Malapert Massif
- Mons Mouton Plateau
- Mons Mouton
- Nobile Rim 1
- Nobile Rim 2
- de Gerlache Rim 2
- Slater Plain
According to NASA, each of these nine locations offers the chance to gain vital information about rocky planets, lunar resources and the broader history of the solar system. Unexplored by crewed missions, the lunar south pole has permanently dark regions that may contain essential resources like water.
Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program Office, NASA, said, “Artemis will return humanity to the Moon and visit unexplored areas. NASA's selection of these regions shows our commitment to landing crew safely near the lunar South Pole, where they will help uncover new scientific discoveries and learn to live on the lunar surface.”
Sarah Noble, the Artemis lunar science lead at NASA Headquarters in Washington said that the Moon's South Pole is a “completely different environment” than where the landing happened during the Apollo missions. “It offers access to some of the Moon's oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds,” said Noble.
To determine these sites, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers analysed the lunar South Pole, leveraging data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter alongside extensive lunar science research. Key considerations in their assessment included scientific potential, launch window availability, terrain suitability, communication links with Earth, and lighting conditions.
“Artemis III will be the first time that astronauts will land in the south polar region of the Moon,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA's chief exploration scientist.
The final selection of specific landing sites for Artemis III will occur after NASA finalises the mission's launch dates, which will influence transfer trajectories and the conditions on the lunar surface.
