NASA identifies 13 potential landing sites on moon for human landing

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has identified 13 potential landing sites for a mission that would return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. 

“Selecting these regions means we are one giant leap closer to returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo,” said Mark Kirasich, deputy associate administrator for the Artemis Campaign Development Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Some of the locations identified will most likely be used in the future Artemis III mission, which aims to find water ice, an element that could potentially enable life on the moon, according to phys.org. 

The space agency looked for locations that could support two astronauts for 6 and a half days on the moon. Some of the criteria for choosing locations included areas that had enough sunlight to provide power and thermal location, but that also had access to the moon’s south pole, which is dark and full of craters. 

"Several of the proposed sites within the regions are located among some of the oldest parts of the moon, and together with the permanently shadowed regions, provide the opportunity to learn about the history of the moon through previously unstudied lunar materials," said NASA's Artemis lunar science head Sarah Noble.

The names of the potential sites are 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.

Each site is about 9.3 miles by 9.3 miles and has a 328-foot radius potential landing location. The 13 sites are far removed from the six previous human landings on the moon. 

"This is a new part of the moon. It's a place that we've never explored," Noble said. "All six Apollo landing sites were in the sort of central part of the near side. And now we're going someplace completely different in different in ancient geologic terrain."

Scientists are hopeful that these unexplored, dark areas in the moon’s south pole could contain water ice, which could be broken down into oxygen and hydrogen compounds to provide life-sustaining air and fuel.

The exact site for the landing will be chosen closer to the launch date in late 2025.