NASA recently announced nine candidate landing regions for the Artemis III mission, which will be the first human mission to explore the lunar South Pole.
Criteria and Challenges in Selecting Artemis III Landing Sites
NASA’s Cross Agency Site Selection Analysis team considered numerous factors in choosing potential landing sites, prioritizing terrain safety, lighting conditions, communications capabilities, and access to scientifically valuable regions. The lunar South Pole’s extreme conditions—featuring areas in permanent shadow as well as regions with prolonged sunlight—present both challenges and unique opportunities for exploration. These criteria were essential to ensuring that each potential site would support both safe landing operations and high-impact scientific research.
NASA emphasized that the chosen regions allow “access to nearby permanently shadowed regions rich in resources,” highlighting the potential for exploring water ice deposits that could support future missions. Sarah Noble, NASA’s lunar science lead, explained, “The South Pole is extremely cold, which is why it has these reservoirs of ice,” adding that these frozen resources could “unlock the history of our solar system.”
The Nine Candidate Landing Sites for Artemis III
The nine landing regions NASA has identified within the lunar South Pole area are:
- Amundsen Rim
- Connecting Ridge
- de Gerlache Rim 1
- de Gerlache Rim 2
- de Gerlache-Kocher Massif
- Haworth
- Malapert Massif
- Leibnitz Plateau
- Mons Mouton
Each of these regions has been selected for its access to areas that are permanently shadowed, which may contain preserved water ice and other essential resources. The Amundsen Rim and de Gerlache Rim regions, for instance, offer potential for studying ancient ice that could reveal insights into the Moon’s history and its role in our solar system’s formation.
Integrating Mission Technology with Site Selection
The choice of landing sites also aligns with the technical capabilities of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), Orion spacecraft, and SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS). Each site is within the operational parameters of these systems, ensuring safe and effective transportation, landing, and return for the Artemis III crew. NASA’s selection criteria considered factors like terrain accessibility and sun exposure to accommodate the needs of these spacecraft and provide optimal conditions for astronaut activities and scientific exploration.
This mission is not only a milestone for human exploration but also a precursor for future Artemis missions, such as Artemis V, that will delve further into the lunar South Pole’s unique environment. These missions are expected to lay the groundwork for NASA’s Lunar Gateway initiative, a lunar orbiting station that will support extended exploration and research.
