Revised list: NASA names nine target sites for manned landing on the moon

NASA has updated the list of potential landing sites for humanity's return to the moon and compiled nine regions. They are all located at the south pole of the Earth's satellite and are not all among the 13 target areas named by NASA just two years ago. The current candidates are to undergo further scientific and technical investigation in order to narrow down the final landing area for the Artemis-3 lunar mission. This is currently scheduled to launch in the fall of 2026, but a delay is not unlikely. With this mission, the USA wants to usher in a new phase in the exploration of the moon.

Almost completely new list

For the new list, a specially assembled NASA team has removed areas from the first list and added others, writes the US space agency. The south pole of the moon is a completely different environment to the one where the Apollo missions landed half a century ago. There are therefore other criteria and other research objectives. For example, there are permanently shaded areas where water is protected from the sun. All nine sites have the potential to expand our knowledge of rocky planets, lunar resources and the history of the solar system, writes NASA. A further narrowing down will take place when it is actually clear when the mission can be launched.

Artemis-3 is currently scheduled to take place in the fall of 2026, before which three astronauts and one female astronaut will orbit the moon on Artemis-2. The planned missions were recently postponed by a year and there are still doubts about this schedule. NASA initiated the program a year ago with the unmanned Artemis-1 mission, in which the Orion capsule was launched to the moon using the giant SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, which it then orbited for a week and a half. It returned to Earth in December. The declared aim of the Artemis program is not only to return to the moon, but this time also to establish a permanent presence.

(mho)