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Exactly 50 years have passed since man last set foot on the moon but now we know where the astronauts of the future Artemis III mission will leave their footprintsthe one that will attempt to reconquer our natural satellite in 2025, but this time with a more structured and long-term plan.
We had announced it to you and finally a few hours ago the announcement arrived during a media briefing that NASA held last night starting at 8 pm, during which the most eligible areas were chosen from which one will be selected for the arrival of the crew of the Artemis III mission, inside which there will be for the first time also a woman and a black man. The agency has identified 13 candidate regions (you can see them in the header image) near the lunar South Pole but each region contains more potential landing sites. Here are the words of Mark Kirasich, associate deputy administrator for the Artemis Campaign Development Division at NASA’s Washington headquarters.
“Selecting these regions means we are a giant step towards returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo. When we do, it will be unlike any previous mission, as astronauts venture into dark areas previously unexplored by humans. and lay the foundations for future long-term stays “.
NASA has identified the following candidate regions for the Artemis III moon landing:
- Faustini Rim A
- Peak Near Shackleton
- Connecting Ridge
- Connecting Ridge Extension
- de Gerlache Rim 1
- de Gerlache Rim 2
- de Gerlache-Kocher Massif
- Haworth
- Malapert Massif
- Leibnitz Beta Plateau
- Noble Rim 1
- Noble Rim 2
- Amundsen Rim
Each of these regions has geological characteristics suitable for the arrival of man and on the whole they are particularly suitable for the landing of a spacecraft such as SpaceX’s Starship HLS, they are also located within six degrees of latitude from the lunar South Pole. The landing sites are also partially spaced with the aim of offering greater flexibility for the eventual arrival time, guaranteeing the possibility of selecting different launch windows depending on the time of year in which the mission will take place.
In addition to considering the possible timing of arrival the team of scientists has evaluated the regions on their ability to allow a safe landingbased on criteria including slope of the land, ease of communication with the Earth and lighting conditions the first astronauts will have to deal with. It will be especially important to land close enough to a region that is constantly in shadow, so that the crew can safely conduct moonwalks while limiting disturbances during landing. This will allow the crew to collect samples and conduct scientific analyzes in an area without making too many compromises, providing important information on the depth, distribution and composition of the water ice, the presence of which has been confirmed in the vicinity of the South Pole. lunar.
To determine accessibility, the team had to consider the combined capabilities of the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft and the Starship HLS landing system, the lunar lander to be provided by SpaceX.
NASA will discuss the 13 regions with the scientific community through seminars and meetings aimed at receiving as many views on the merits of each region as possible. Nor is it excluded that the list may be expanded with additional regions to be considered. The agency will also continue to work with SpaceX to confirm Starship HLS’s landing capabilities and evaluate eligible options accordingly. We leave you to the clip with which the US space agency wanted to present the 13 selected areas, good vision.
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