NASA's Moon landing sites for Artemis III mission: What are they?

As NASA's new SLS rocket preparesto blast off to space as part of the Artemis programme, the US space agency announced it had identified landing regions near the lunar South Pole for the Artemis III misson targeted for 2025.

"Selecting these regions means we are one giant leap closer to returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo,” NASA's top official Mark Kirasich responsible for the Artemis said.

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Americans had last been to the Moon as part of the Apollo mission in 1972. NASA's Artemis project intends to put the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon's surface.

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Which landing regions on the Moon were identified?

NASA identified thirteen sites for the potential landing including 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, Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2 and Amundsen Rim.

NASA said the lunar regions contain "diverse geologic features" and that it allows "flexibility to launch throughout the year".

How were the regions selected?

NASA said it had engaged scientists and engineers to assess the lunar South Pole using data from the lunar reconnaissance orbiter. The US space agency also took help from earlier publications and lunar science findings while evaluating regions based on their ability to accommodate safe landings.

NASA scientists studied terrain slope, ease of communication including lighting conditions.

It also assessed the space launch rocket systems, Orion spacecraftand the SpaceX starship landing system. The scientists said all sites had proximity to the lunar South Pole and were rich in resources with terrain unexplored by humans.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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