Oct. 28 (UPI) — NASA has identified nine possible landing sites for its Artemis III mission in 2026 that will return astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, the space agency announced Monday.
“Artemis will return humanity to the moon and visit unexplored areas. NASA’s selection of these regions shows our commitment to landing crew safely near the lunar south pole, where they will help uncover new scientific discoveries and learn to live on the lunar surface,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program.
The nine landing regions, which NASA released in a photo Monday and were assessed for their “science value and mission availability” near the moon’s south pole, include Peak near Cabeus B; Haworth; Malapert Massif; Mons Mouton Plateau; Mons Mouton; Nobile Rim 1; Nobile Rim 2; de Gerlache Rim 2 and Slater Plain.
Scientists and engineers analyzed the nine regions — using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter — to determine terrain, lighting and communication capabilities with Earth.
NASA’s Artemis III mission is targeting a crewed landing in September 2026 near the moon’s south pole, which NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called a “different moon” from the 1969 Apollo mission with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
“The south pole is pockmarked with deep craters and because of the angle of the sun coming in — most of those craters are in total darkness. It lessens the amount of area we can land on and utilize,” Nelson said last year.
The lunar south pole has never been explored by a crewed mission and contains permanently shadowed areas that could preserve resources, including water, according to NASA.
“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, D.C.
“It offers access to some of the moon’s oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds. Any of these landing regions will enable us to do amazing science and make new discoveries,” Noble added.
NASA will work to narrow down its lunar landing site choices for Artemis III, once it identifies the mission’s target launch dates. Those dates will determine orbital paths and surface environment conditions, according to Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist.
“Finding the right locations for this historic moment begins with identifying safe places for this first landing,” Bleacher said, “and then trying to match that with opportunities for science from this new place on the moon.”