Current Set Of Nine Areas With Multiple Sites Identified

NASA has released an updated set of potential landing sites near the Lunar South Pole for its crewed Artemis III mission to return humans to the moon for the first time in over fifty years.

NASA is preparing for the mission by using imaging data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) vehicle to identify potential landing sites not only for Artemis III but also for missions beyond.

The current batch of sites includes nine areas, each with multiple potential landing zones. These areas and sites are analyzed by a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers for scientific value and mission availability, using data gathered by the LRO as well as a large body of lunar research information already compiled.

NASA’s Cross Agency Site Selection Analysis team works closely with industry and science partners to assess sites, and they are added, excluded, or replaced depending on updated information gathered by the team. Parameters such as launch window availability, terrain suitability, Earth communications capabilities, and lighting conditions are considered. Additional consideration is also given to trajectory capabilities of the NASA Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, and Starship Human Landing System to ensure accessible and safe landing sites.

Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead at NASA Headquarters in Washington explained, “The Moon’s South Pole is a completely different environment than where we landed 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. Any of these landing regions will enable us to do amazing science and make new discoveries.”

FMI:  www.nasa.gov/