(ANSA) – ROME, AUGUST 19 – There are 13 regions in which man could walk again on the Moon in the Artemis 3 mission, scheduled for the end of 2025 and which will mark the return of astronauts to lunar soil 50 years after the last mission of the Apollo program, Apollo 17 of 1972. This was announced by NASA in a press conference.
Faustini Rim A, Peak Near Shackleton, Connecting Ridge, de Gerlache Rim 1 are among the possible landing areas, alongside Haworth, Leibnitz Beta Plateau and Amundsen Rim. The element common to all, the proximity to the lunar South Pole and a duration of brightness of 6.5 days, equal to that of the stay of the astronauts.
“Having these names means having taken a giant step towards the return of astronauts to the moon since the Apollo missions,” said Mark Kirasich, deputy head of the NASA Division for the Artemis program. It will be “unlike any other mission in the past, as astronauts will venture into uncharted areas to lay the foundations of facilities for future long-term stays,” he added.
Within each region, multiple candidate sites have been identified to accommodate astronauts. These are interesting areas from a scientific point of view and which have been evaluated according to the characteristics of the soil, the ease of communication and the lighting conditions.
“Many of the proposed sites correspond to some of the oldest parts of the Moon and, together with the permanently shadowed regions, offer the opportunity to learn about the history of the Moon through previously not studied lunar materials,” said Sarah Noble, of the Division of Planetary sciences of NASA. Now begins a phase of analysis of each of the regions, in which the scientific community will compare all the available elements until a site is identified.
Artemis 3 will be the first of the Artemis program missions to envisage a moon landing with a human crew. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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