NASA has identified thirteen candidate regions for the upcoming human landing on the Moon with the Artemis programwhich by the middle of this decade plans to fly a crew to Earth’s satellite after more than half a century, plus it wants to land on the moon’s mysterious south pole.
(Keep reading: NASA: Artemis mission rocket to the Moon is ready for liftoff)
As the US space agency reported Friday, the thirteen areas designated for landing the Artemis III mission, which will carry the first woman and first African-American person to set foot on the moon, Each contains “several potential lunar landing sites” and is less than six degrees from the Moon’s south pole.
(Also: The first South Korean lunar probe heading for its destination after launch)
“Each area is approximately 15 by 15 kilometers in size,” NASA said in a statement, adding that the candidate landing areas provide options for all potential launch opportunities for Artemis III, which will likely take off in 2025.
In addition to that flexibility in terms of potential launch windows, the scientists chose these areas because they would allow for a safe landing, After taking into account “criteria such as the slope of the terrain, ease of contact with the ground and lighting conditions,” according to NASA.
Uncharted dark areas
“It will be different from any previous mission as astronauts will venture into dark areas previously undiscovered by humans and will lay the foundation for long-term flights in the future,” said Mark Kerasech, deputy director of NASA’s Artemis campaign development division.
All regions are considered of “scientific interest” due to their proximity to the Moon’s south pole, Where there are areas in a “permanent shadow rich in resources”, the US space agency has deepened.
As Sarah Noble of NASA’s Division of Planetary Science and Head of Lunar Science at Artemis explains, many of the projected landing sites are on “some of the oldest parts of the Moon,” which provide access to “previously unstudied” material.
(Read also: They discovered wells and caves with a constant temperature of 17 degrees Celsius on the surface of the moon)
Any of these thirteen regions are located near areas where the crew would be able to perform “limited turbulence” on the lunar surface, allowing the crew to collect samples and perform scientific analysis in an area free of obstacles. It will be obtained like this, for example, NASA has drilled down “important information about the depth, distribution, and composition of water ice that has been confirmed at the south pole of the Moon.”
“Lunar water ice is of both scientific value and as a resource, because we can extract oxygen and hydrogen from it for life support systems and for fuel,” said Jacob Blecher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist, referring to future lunar bases.
access to light
With the aim of selecting thirteen candidate regions, the team of scientists and engineers analyzed the data obtained by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, He sent the NASA space probe in 2009, as well as scientific publications.
Proximity to permanently shaded areas, as well as lighting conditions, were taken into account in the selection. In this way, the thirteen regions contain places with continuous access to sunlight for six and a half days, which is the expected duration of Artemis III on the lunar surface.
“Access to sunlight is essential for prolonged stay on the Moon, as it provides an energy source and reduces temperature changes,” the space agency said.
The degree of terrain accessibility in each of these areas was determined based on the characteristics of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, In addition to the Starship rocket developed by the private company SpaceX with the aim of transporting humans.
(You may be interested: This is NASA’s spacecraft in lunar orbit)
In this sense, in the future, in addition to analyzing the thirteen regions with the scientific community in general, NASA will also do so with SpaceX to confirm the landing capabilities of its spacecraft “and thus evaluate options,” he said.
The first step towards the goal is for man to step on the surface of the moon again, And finally, a permanent presence on the Earth’s satellite, it will happen on August 29, when the unmanned mission Artemis I takes off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (USA).
On that day, NASA is preparing a special broadcast with actors Jack Black and Chris Evans, as well as a performance of “America the Beautiful” by the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, under the direction of Yannick Nzet Seguin.
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