NASA’s Artemis will take humans to the Moon’s south pole for the first time; 9 landing sites revealed in big update. peppermint

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aims to reach the lesser-explored south pole of the Moon with its Artemis III mission. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is a major partner of NASA for this moon landing mission, which is likely to be launched in 2026. In a major update on Monday, NASA revealed nine potential landing sites for the Artemis III mission.

Before discussing the nine potential sites, here’s a brief overview of NASA’s Artemis III mission:

Last year, India became the first country to land a spacecraft (Chandrayaan-3 mission) in the south polar region of the Moon. NASA’s Artemis III mission, which also aims to reach the Moon’s south pole, comes with a big twist – that Artemis III will take humans/astronauts to the Moon’s south polar region for the first time.

“Artemis III will be the first time astronauts have landed in the Moon’s south polar region,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist.

Artemis III: A few things to consider first

Artemis III will be NASA’s first manned moon landing mission in more than five decades. This will also be the first time that humans will reach the south pole of the Moon. Before this, no human has gone to the south pole of the Moon. Artemis III is planned to launch in 2026.

“NASA will make history by sending the first humans to explore the region near the Moon’s south pole,” the US space agency said.

In the past, the US space agency took astronauts to the Moon and brought them back during the Apollo missions. Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.

What is the difference between the Apollo and Artemis III missions? One of the differences is this: “The moon’s south pole is a completely different environment than where we landed during the Apollo missions,” said Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA and its partners also aim to land the first woman and first black person on the lunar surface with the Artemis program.

In February this year, Odysseus, an unmanned robotic lander, landed near the moon’s south pole at approximately 23:23 GMT. This landing marked the first US lunar landing since Apollo 17. It was also the first landing as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Initiative, which aims to expand the lunar economy to support future crewed Artemis missions.

Artemis III mission success: 9 candidates

Where will Artemis III astronauts land on the Moon? NASA said it was refining a list of nine regions near the moon’s south pole, “a place where we have never set foot before”. Refined candidate Artemis III lunar landing zones, in no priority order, are:

1. Peak near Cabius B
2. Haworth
3. Malapert Massif
4. mons mouton plateau
5. mons mouton
6. noble rim 1
7. noble rim 2
8. gerlache rim 2
9. slater plain

According to NASA, these nine regions have diverse geological characteristics and provide flexibility for mission availability.

“Each of the nine identified regions has the potential to provide important new insights into our understanding of rocky planets, lunar resources, and the history of our Solar System,” it said.

The agency will select sites within the regions for Artemis III after identifying the mission’s target launch dates, which dictate the transfer trajectory, or orbital path, and surface environmental conditions.

The Moon’s south pole is the new frontier for lunar exploration missions. NASA said crewed missions have never explored the moon’s south pole and include permanently shadowed areas that may preserve resources, including water.

According to reports, China previously revealed that it plans to develop a moon base on the moon’s south pole, which will be launched in two distinct phases, eventually leading to a series of nodes on the lunar surface and in orbit. Will be made.