Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

NASA is pushing ahead with Artemis 'return to the moon program, although the agency has not yet launched rockets that will carry astronauts to the moon or selected astronauts to explore the lunar surface, but it has determined where astronauts will land on the moon.

NASA announced Friday that the agency has selected 13 possible landing areas at the lunar south pole, including Faustini Rim A, Peak Near Shackleton, Connecting Ridge, Connecting Ridge Extension, two marginal zones of de Gerlache Crater, de Gerlache-Kocher Massif, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Leibnitz Beta Plateau, two marginal zones of Noble Crater and Amundsen Rim.

NASA has previously announced that it will land on the moon's south pole. But the agency said Friday that the specific sites were chosen because they were safe landing sites, close enough to permanently shadowed areas where astronauts could conduct moonwalks. These sites are all within six degrees south latitude, far from the region explored by Neil Armstrong and other astronauts during the Apollo moon landings.

NASA plans to launch manned missions to the moon as early as 2025, which would be the first attempt by Americans to return to the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972. But unlike Apollo, Artemis aimed to establish permanent bases on and around the moon.

In a briefing Friday, NASA officials said they used data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and other studies of the moon to select the landing site. LRO is an unmanned probe that has been mapping the lunar surface since 2009.

Mark Kirasich, NASA's associate administrator for Artemis propulsion, said: "Choosing these regions means we are one step closer to returning humans to the moon for the first time since Apollo. This will be unlike any previous mission, as astronauts will venture into dark regions that humans have never explored before, preparing for future long-term stays. "

NASA also said it would allow astronauts to "collect samples and conduct scientific analysis in an unaffected area to obtain important information about the depth, distribution and composition of water ice at the moon's south pole." "Water is essential for sustaining human life and, because it consists of hydrogen and oxygen, can also be used as rocket propellant.

Apollo missions were mainly to the equatorial regions of the moon, where sunlight was long, with each lunar day lasting up to two weeks. By contrast, the moon's south pole may have only a few days of light, making the mission more challenging and limiting NASA's launch window.

Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science program leader, said: "These sites are very far away from the Apollo lunar exploration site, and now we are going to a completely different place. "

The announcement comes as NASA prepares for its first Artemis mission, currently scheduled for Aug. 29. The flight will mark the first launch of NASA's heavy-lift launch vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS), which will put the uncrewed Orion capsule into orbit around the moon for a 42-day mission.

Earlier this week, NASA launched the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. In addition to Aug. 29, Sept. 2 and Sept. 5 will serve as alternate launch windows.

Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin said one of the main goals of the flight was to test Orion's heat shield. The heat shield is designed to protect Orion and future astronauts from extreme temperatures as the spacecraft enters Earth's atmosphere at 40,000 kilometers per hour.

After the mission, four astronauts will make their first manned flight in 2024. They will orbit the moon, but they will not land. As for the first lunar landing mission, it is tentatively scheduled for 2025. The mission depends on a number of factors, including the pace of development of SpaceX starships and rockets that will rendezvous with Orion in lunar orbit and then ferry astronauts to and from the lunar surface.

Jacob Bleacher, NASA's chief exploration scientist, said: "I feel like we're on a roller coaster, going through the highest enemy. Fasten your seatbelts, everyone. We're going for a ride on the moon! "

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