The space agency needs to decide where it will park before it goes back to the moon. The Artemis 3 mission will attempt to land a man and a woman on the moon. Each region contains multiple landing sites with a radius of about 100 meters. Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA, said during a press briefing on Friday that a region might be considered as a series of parking lots. NASA used the LRO to gather data on those regions. NASA needed the help of the LRO in figuring out where it could land during future moon missions. Since it may contain water ice in its shadowed regions, Artemis 3 wants to go to the Moon's south pole. Water on the Moon is seen as a huge advantage to future space exploration, providing astronauts with a valuable local resource that will support a sustained presence on the lunar surface.
There are areas in the south pole that are permanently dark and there are other areas that are always in the sun. The light-to-darkness ratio varies over a small distance. It is possible to design systems that use light for energy and thermal control. Water and other volatiles can be found in the locations of permanent shadow which are unique to the poles. NASA has a lot of technical issues to consider when deciding where to land.
Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead, said during the briefing thatApollo landing sites were in the central part of the near side. NASA formed an agency-wide team of scientists and engineers who looked over decades of data to evaluate the accessibility of landing regions on the south pole. The team took into account the capabilities of NASA's Space Launch System, as well as the other systems. There are 13 landing regions that are close to the south pole.
As the Artemis 3 mission launch gets closer, the space agency is trying to narrow this list. It won't happen before the year 2026. The space agency has more flexibility to launch the Artemis 3 mission throughout the year because some of the landing sites are only accessible during certain launch windows.
The SLS rocket is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida waiting to be used for the Artemis 1 mission. There will be backup windows on September 2 and September 5. Artemis 2 won't land on the surface of the moon but will have a crew on board the capsule. NASA plans to land a man and a woman at the south pole of the moon with the help of Artemis 3.
The Artemis program doesn't just want humans to stay for a short time. It wants to establish a presence on and around the natural satellite. The first human journey to Mars would be a stepping stone.
The future moon-orbiting space station is called the lunar gateway.
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