Jump to content

Moon waves goodbye to Hera


Recommended Posts

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Similar Topics

    • By NASA
      3 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      NASA employees plant an Artemis Moon Tree at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Oct. 29 to celebrate NASA’s successful Artemis I mission as the agency prepares for a return around the Moon with astronauts on Artemis II. NASA/Danny Nowlin A tree-planting ceremony at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Oct. 29 celebrated NASA’s successful Artemis I mission as the agency prepares for a return around the Moon with astronauts on Artemis II.
      “We already have a thriving Moon Tree from the Apollo years onsite,” NASA Stennis Director John Bailey said. “It is exciting to add trees for our new Artemis Generation as it continues the next great era of human space exploration.”
      NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Next Gen STEM Project partnered with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service to fly five species of tree seeds aboard the Orion spacecraft during the successful uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022 as part of a national STEM Engagement and conservation education initiative. 
      The Artemis Moon Tree species included sweetgums, loblolly pines, sycamores, Douglas-firs, and giant sequoias. The seeds from the first Artemis mission have been nurtured by the USDA into seedlings to be a source of inspiration for the Artemis Generation.
      The Moon Tree education initiative is rooted in the legacy of Apollo 14 Moon Tree seeds flown in lunar orbit over 50 years ago by the late Stuart Roosa, a NASA astronaut and Mississippi Coast resident.
      NASA Stennis and the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC), located at the site, planted companion trees during the Oct. 29 ceremony. Bailey and NSSC Executive Director Anita Harrell participated in a joint planting ceremony attended by a number of employees from each entity.
      The American sweetgum trees are the second and third Moon Trees at the south Mississippi site. In 2004, ASTRO CAMP participants planted a sycamore Moon Tree to honor the 35th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969.
      The road to space for both Apollo 14 and Artemis I went through Mississippi. Until 1970, NASA Stennis test fired first, and second stages of the Saturn V rockets used for Apollo.
      NASA Stennis now tests all the RS-25 engines powering Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Prior to Artemis I, NASA Stennis tested the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage and its four RS-25 engines.
      The Artemis Moon Trees have found new homes in over 150 communities and counting since last spring, and each of the 10 NASA centers also will plant one.
      As the tree grows at NASA Stennis, so, too, does anticipation for the first crewed mission with Artemis II. Four astronauts will venture around the Moon on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration.
      The flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities – the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft – for the first time with astronauts.
      Explore More NASA Stennis Image Articles View the full article
    • By NASA
      8 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      Artemis I Moon Tree seedlings continue to find new homes with schools, museums, libraries, universities, and community organizations across the contiguous United States. An open call to NASA’s Artifacts Module in Fall, 2023 welcomed over 1000 organization submissions, which were reviewed and ranked by a joint USDA Forest Service and NASA panel.
      Final recipient selection and seedling assignments for each cycle are informed by rank and region, and subject to a limited inventory of trees germinated from each of the five species of seeds flown aboard Artemis I in 2022. Recipient selection and seedling distribution follows four cycles: Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Fall 2025.
      Spring 2024 Artemis I Moon Tree Stewards
      Alabama
      Fairfield City Schools – Fairfield High Preparatory School Fairfield AL American Sweetgum
      Meridianville Middle School Hazel Green AL Loblolly Pine
      Pioneer Museum of Alabama Troy AL Loblolly Pine
      Troy University Arboretum Troy AL Loblolly Pine
      Arkansas
      Baxter County Library Mountain Home AR American Sweetgum
      Arizona
      University of Arizona – Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) Tucson AZ American Sweetgum
      California
      Forestr.org Castro Valley CA Sequoia
      Girl Scout Troop 7574 Dana Point CA Sequoia
      Greenfield Union School District Greenfield CA Sequoia
      Quest Science Center Livermore CA Sequoia
      Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary School Lake Forest CA Sequoia
      Colorado
      United States Air Force Academy USAF Academy CO American Sweetgum
      Connecticut
      New Milford High School New Milford CT American Sweetgum
      South School – New Canaan School District New Canaan CT Sycamore
      Yale University Marsh Botanical Garden New Haven CT American Sweetgum
      Washington, DC
      United States Capitol
      Washington, DC DC American Sweetgum
      Florida
      Agricultural Biotechnology Academy, West Florida High School of Advanced Technology, Escambia County School District Pensacola FL Loblolly Pine
      Cornerstone Learning Community Tallahassee FL American Sweetgum
      Dreamers Academy Sarasota FL American Sweetgum
      Florida Forest Service Tallahassee FL Loblolly Pine
      Florida Polytechnic University Lakeland FL American Sweetgum
      Gulfside Community Partnership School Holiday FL Loblolly Pine
      H.B. Plant High School Tampa FL American Sweetgum
      Hobbs Middle School Milton FL American Sweetgum
      Lawton Environmental Study Area (LESA), T.W. Lawton Elementary Oviedo FL American Sweetgum
      Montverde Academy Montverde FL American Sweetgum
      Museum of Archaeology, Paleontology & Science New Port Richey FL American Sweetgum
      Museum of Science and Industry Tampa FL American Sweetgum
      North Andrews Gardens Elementary Oakland Park FL American Sweetgum
      Orange Park Elementary Orange Park FL American Sweetgum
      Pine Crest School Fort Lauderdale FL American Sweetgum
      Port Malabar Elementary School Palm Bay FL American Sweetgum
      St. Peter Catholic School Deland FL Loblolly Pine
      UF/IFAS Extension Clay County 4-H Green Cove Springs FL Loblolly Pine
      University of West Florida Pensacola FL Loblolly Pine
      West Navarre Intermediate School Navarre FL American Sweetgum
      Georgia
      Berrien Elementary School Nashville GA Loblolly Pine
      East Georgia State College Swainsboro GA Loblolly Pine
      Lilburn Elementary School Lilburn GA Loblolly Pine
      Park Elementary School Hamilton GA Loblolly Pine
      Sagamore Hills Elementary School Atlanta GA Loblolly Pine
      United States Air Force Moody Air Force Base GA American Sweetgum
      Iowa
      Cedar Rapids Community School District, Metro High School Cedar Rapids IA Sycamore
      Idaho
      American Falls High School American Falls ID Sycamore
      Illinois
      Eagle Pointe Elementary School Plainfield IL Sycamore
      Marion Community Unit #2 School District, Marion Junior High School Marion IL Sycamore
      Monmouth College Monmouth IL American Sweetgum
      Indiana
      Franklin Community High School Franklin IN American Sweetgum
      Hayes Arboretum Richmond IN American Sweetgum
      Kansas
      Tecumseh South Elementary School Tecumseh KS American Sweetgum
      Kentucky
      Christian County Middle School Hopkinsville KY American Sweetgum
      FIND Outdoors Gladie Visitor Center, Red River Gorge Stanton KY American Sweetgum
      Graves County High School Mayfield KY American Sweetgum
      Martha Layne Collins High School Shelbyville KY American Sweetgum
      Louisiana
      Shreve Island Elementary, Caddo Parish Schools Shreveport LA American Sweetgum
      YMCA of Bogalusa Bogalusa LA Loblolly Pine
      Massachusetts
      Bernardston Elementary School Bernardston MA American Sweetgum
      Michigan
      The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park Traverse City MI Sycamore
      Minnesota
      Forest Lake Area High School Forest Lake MN Sycamore
      Missouri
      Columbia Public Schools Elementary Gifted Program Columbia MO American Sweetgum
      Trailridge Elementary Lee’s Summit MO American Sweetgum
      Mississippi
      Bayou Academy Cleveland MS American Sweetgum
      Clinton Community Nature Center Clinton MS American Sweetgum
      North Carolina
      Cardinal Gibbons High School Raleigh NC American Sweetgum
      FIND Outdoors Cradle of Forestry Pisgah National Forest NC American Sweetgum
      Mars Hill University Mars Hill NC American Sweetgum
      Montgomery County NC Extension Master Gardener Volunteers; The Gathering Garden Mount Gilead NC Loblolly Pine
      North Carolina Executive Mansion – Governor’s Residence
      Raleigh NC Loblolly Pine
      North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics – Morganton Morganton NC American Sweetgum
      White Oak High School Jacksonville NC American Sweetgum
      North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics – Durham Durham NC Sycamore
      Nebraska
      Hastings College Hastings NE American Sweetgum
      University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln NE American Sweetgum
      New Hampshire
      Barnstead Elementary School Center Barnstead NH Sycamore
      Nashua Community College Nashua NH Sycamore
      New Jersey
      Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University Glassboro NJ American Sweetgum
      Information Age Learning Center Wall Township NJ American Sweetgum
      New Mexico
      New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum Las Cruces NM Loblolly Pine
      New York
      Baldwinsville Central School District Baldwinsville NY Sycamore
      Bronx Community College Bronx NY Sycamore
      Franklin Middle School, Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District Town of Tonawanda NY Sycamore
      Pembroke Junior/Senior High School Corfu NY American Sweetgum
      Rome City School District Rome NY Sequoia
      State University of New York (SUNY) – New Paltz New Paltz NY American Sweetgum
      Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium Centerport NY American Sweetgum
      Ohio
      Claymont High School Uhrichsville OH Sycamore
      Coldwater Exempted Village Schools Coldwater OH American Sweetgum
      Copley-Fairlawn Middle School, Copley-Fairlawn City Schools Copley OH Sycamore
      Liberty-Benton High School Findlay OH Sycamore
      Marshall STEMM Academy Toledo OH American Sweetgum
      Portsmouth City Schools Portsmouth OH American Sweetgum
      Pymatuning Valley High School Andover OH American Sweetgum
      Wayne National Forest Nelsonville OH American Sweetgum
      Oklahoma
      Centennial Middle School Broken Arrow OK Loblolly Pine
      Jenks Northwest Elementary School Tulsa OK American Sweetgum
      Perkins Public Library: Thomas – Wilhite Memorial Library Perkins OK American Sweetgum
      Oregon
      Crow Middle School Eugene OR American Sweetgum
      Friends of Myrtle Creek Library Myrtle Creek OR American Sweetgum
      Lent Elementary School Portland OR American Sweetgum
      Tamarack Elementary School Hillsboro OR American Sweetgum
      Willamette Elementary School, McMinnville School District McMinnville OR American Sweetgum
      Pennsylvania
      Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA American Sweetgum
      Montour High School McKees Rocks PA American Sweetgum
      Penn State University, Penn State Erie – The Behrend College Erie PA American Sweetgum
      Penn State University, Penn State Schuylkill University Park PA Sycamore
      Perkiomen Valley Middle School East Collegeville PA American Sweetgum
      The Reading Public Museum Reading PA Sycamore
      Rhode Island
      Tiverton Public Library Tiverton RI American Sweetgum
      South Carolina
      Academy for the Arts, Science, & Technology Myrtle Beach SC Loblolly Pine
      Conway Elementary School Conway SC American Sweetgum
      Manning Early Childhood Center, Clarendon School District Manning SC American Sweetgum
      Spartanburg Community College Horticulture Program Spartanburg SC American Sweetgum
      Tennessee
      Great Smoky Mountain Council, Boy Scouts of America Knoxville TN American Sweetgum
      Lipscomb Academy Nashville TN American Sweetgum
      Pellissippi State Community College Knoxville TN Loblolly Pine
      Sumner Academy Gallatin TN American Sweetgum
      Texas
      Atlanta Public Library Atlanta TX American Sweetgum
      Beaumont Children’s Museum & Beaumont Botanical Gardens Beaumont TX Loblolly Pine
      Bonham Pre-Kindergarten School San Marcos TX Loblolly Pine
      Charles W. Young Junior High School Arlington TX Loblolly Pine
      Clear Creek Intermediate, Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) League City TX American Sweetgum
      Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden – Children’s Adventure Garden Dallas TX American Sweetgum
      DeKalb Independent School District De Kalb TX Loblolly Pine
      Doss Consolidated Common School District (CCSD) Doss TX American Sweetgum
      Fort Worth Botanic Garden Fort Worth TX Loblolly Pine
      Galveston County 4H Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Program (Houston Botanic Gardens) Houston TX American Sweetgum
      Goliad Independent School District Goliad TX Loblolly Pine
      Greens Prairie Elementary School College Station TX American Sweetgum
      Groves Elementary School Humble TX Loblolly Pine
      Kay Granger Elementary School Fort Worth TX Loblolly Pine
      Leadership Big Bend, Nopalitos Park Alpine TX American Sweetgum
      Science Hall Elementary School Kyle TX American Sweetgum
      Scobee Education Center at San Antonio College San Antonio TX Loblolly Pine
      Space Center Intermediate, Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) Houston TX Loblolly Pine
      Texas A&M Forest Service Conroe TX American Sweetgum
      Texas A&M University, Physics & Astronomy Department College Station TX American Sweetgum
      University of Texas at Arlington Arlington TX American Sweetgum
      Uplift Summit International Preparatory Middle School Arlington TX Loblolly Pine
      Westside Elementary School Cedar Park TX Loblolly Pine
      Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy Austin TX Loblolly Pine
      Utah
      Southern Utah University STEM Center Cedar City UT American Sweetgum
      Virginia
      Essex County Museum Tappahannock VA American Sweetgum
      Virginia Living Museum Newport News VA Loblolly Pine
      Virginia Zoo Norfolk VA Loblolly Pine
      Washington
      Innovation Lab High School Bothell WA Sycamore
      Orchard Prairie School District Spokane WA Sycamore
      Richland School District Richland WA Sycamore
      Upper Columbia Resource Conservation & Development Council Spokane Valley WA Sycamore
      Yakima Area Arboretum Yakima WA Sycamore
      Wisconsin
      Dunn County Historical Society Menomonie WI Sycamore

      Fall 2024 Artemis I Moon Tree Stewards
      Distribution is underway through November 2024. This list will be updated once distribution is complete. Previously notified recipients who have not received a seedling may be deferred to a later cycle based on current ready-to-ship seedling inventory.
      Spring 2025 Artemis I Moon Tree Stewards
      Selection is in progress.
      Fall 2025 Artemis I Moon Tree Stewards
      Selection is in progress.
      Explore Moon Trees Website View the full article
    • By European Space Agency
      Image: Spooky Earths seen by Hera’s HyperScout View the full article
    • By NASA
      6 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      With one of its solar arrays deployed, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer sits in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space. The large silver grate attached to the spacecraft is the radiator for HVM³, one of two instruments that the mission will use to better understand the lunar water cycle.Lockheed Martin Space There’s water on the Moon, but scientists only have a general idea of where it is and what form it is in. A trailblazing NASA mission will get some answers.
      When NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer begins orbiting the Moon next year, it will help resolve an enduring mystery: Where is the Moon’s water? Scientists have seen signs suggesting it exists even where temperatures soar on the lunar surface, and there’s good reason to believe it can be found as surface ice in permanently shadowed craters, places that have not seen direct sunlight for billions of years. But, so far, there have been few definitive answers, and a full understanding of the nature of the Moon’s water cycle remains stubbornly out of reach.
      This is where Lunar Trailblazer comes in. Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and led by Caltech in Pasadena, California, the small satellite will map the Moon’s surface water in unprecedented detail to determine the water’s abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time.
      “Making high-resolution measurements of the type and amount of lunar water will help us understand the lunar water cycle, and it will provide clues to other questions, like how and when did Earth get its water,” said Bethany Ehlmann, principal investigator for Lunar Trailblazer at Caltech. “But understanding the inventory of lunar water is also important if we are to establish a sustained human and robotic presence on the Moon and beyond.”
      Future explorers could process lunar ice to create breathable oxygen or even fuel. And they could also conduct science. Using information from Lunar Trailblazer, future human or robotic scientific investigations could sample the ice for later study to determine where the water came from. For example, the presence of ammonia in ice samples may indicate the water came from comets; sulfur, on the other hand, could show that it was vented to the surface from the lunar interior when the Moon was young and volcanically active.
      This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer in lunar orbit about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the surface of the Moon. The spacecraft weighs only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measures 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide when its solar panels are fully deployed.Lockheed Martin Space “In the future, scientists could analyze the ice in the interiors of permanently shadowed craters to learn more about the origins of water on the Moon,” said Rachel Klima, Lunar Trailblazer deputy principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. “Like an ice core from a glacier on Earth can reveal the ancient history of our planet’s atmospheric composition, this pristine lunar ice could provide clues as to where that water came from and how and when it got there.”
      Understanding whether water molecules move freely across the surface of the Moon or are locked inside rock is also scientifically important. Water molecules could move from frosty “cold traps” to other locations throughout the lunar day. Frost heated by the Sun sublimates (turning from solid ice to a gas without going through a liquid phase), allowing the molecules to move as a gas to other cold locations, where they could form new frost as the Sun moves overhead. Knowing how water moves on the Moon could also lead to new insights into the water cycles on other airless bodies, such as asteroids
      Two Instruments, One Mission
      Two science instruments aboard the spacecraft will help unlock these secrets: the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) infrared spectrometer and the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) infrared multispectral imager.
      Developed by JPL, HVM3 will detect and map the spectral fingerprints, or wavelengths of reflected sunlight, of minerals and the different forms of water on the lunar surface. The spectrometer can use faint reflected light from the walls of craters to see the floor of even permanently shadowed craters.
      The LTM instrument, which was built by the University of Oxford and funded by the UK Space Agency, will map the minerals and thermal properties of the same lunar landscape. Together they will create a picture of the abundance, location, and form of water while also tracking how its distribution changes over time.
      “The LTM instrument precisely maps the surface temperature of the Moon while the HVM3 instrument looks for the spectral signature of water molecules,” said Neil Bowles, instrument scientist for LTM at the University of Oxford. “Both instruments will allow us to understand how surface temperature affects water, improving our knowledge of the presence and distribution of these molecules on the Moon.”
      Weighing only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measuring 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide when its solar panels are fully deployed, Lunar Trailblazer will orbit the Moon about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the surface. The mission was selected by NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program in 2019 and will hitch a ride on the same launch as the Intuitive Machines-2 delivery to the Moon through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Lunar Trailblazer passed a critical operational readiness review in early October at Caltech after completing environmental testing in August at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, where it was assembled.
      The orbiter and its science instruments are now being put through flight system software tests that simulate key aspects of launch, maneuvers, and the science mission while in orbit around the Moon. At the same time, the operations team led by IPAC at Caltech is conducting tests to simulate commanding, communication with NASA’s Deep Space Network, and navigation.
      More About Lunar Trailblazer
      Lunar Trailblazer is managed by JPL, and its science investigation and mission operations are led by Caltech with the mission operations center at IPAC. Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL also provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM3 instrument, as well as mission design and navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provides the spacecraft, integrates the flight system, and supports operations under contract with Caltech.
      SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The program conducts space science investigations in the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
      For more information about Lunar Trailblazer, visit:
      https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/lunar-trailblazer
      News Media Contacts
      Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
      NASA Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
      Ian J. O’Neill
      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
      818-354-2649
      ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
      Gordon Squires
      IPAC, Pasadena, Calif.
      626-395-3121
      squires@ipac.caltech.edu
      2024-148
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Oct 29, 2024 Related Terms
      Lunar Trailblazer Earth's Moon Moons Planetary Science Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate Explore More
      4 min read New NASA Instrument for Studying Snowpack Completes Airborne Testing
      Summer heat has significant effects in the mountainous regions of the western United States. Melted…
      Article 3 hours ago 3 min read Gateway: Centering Science
      Gateway is set to advance science in deep space, bringing groundbreaking research opportunities to lunar…
      Article 4 hours ago 6 min read NASA’s Perseverance Rover Looks Back While Climbing Slippery Slope
      Article 23 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
      Missions
      Humans in Space
      Climate Change
      Solar System
      View the full article
    • By NASA
      This image shows nine candidate landing regions for NASA’s Artemis III mission, with each region containing multiple potential sites for the first crewed landing on the Moon in more than 50 years. The background image of the lunar South Pole terrain within the nine regions is a mosaic of LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) WAC (Wide Angle Camera) images.Credit: NASA As NASA prepares for the first crewed Moon landing in more than five decades, the agency has identified an updated set of nine potential landing regions near the lunar South Pole for its Artemis III mission. These areas will be further investigated through scientific and engineering study. NASA will continue to survey potential areas for missions following Artemis III, including areas beyond these nine regions.
      “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 Office.
      NASA’s Cross Agency Site Selection Analysis team, working closely with science and industry partners, added, and excluded potential landing regions, which were assessed for their science value and mission availability.
      The refined candidate Artemis III lunar landing regions are, in no priority order:
      Peak near Cabeus B Haworth Malapert Massif Mons Mouton Plateau Mons Mouton Nobile Rim 1 Nobile Rim 2 de Gerlache Rim 2 Slater Plain These regions contain diverse geological characteristics and offer flexibility for mission availability. The lunar South Pole has never been explored by a crewed mission and contains permanently shadowed areas that can preserve resources, including water.
      “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. “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.”
      To select these landing regions, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers analyzed the lunar South Pole region using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a vast body of lunar science research. Factors in the selection process included science potential, launch window availability, terrain suitability, communication capabilities with Earth, and lighting conditions. Additionally, the team assessed the combined trajectory capabilities of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to ensure safe and accessible landing sites.
      The Artemis III geology team evaluated the landing regions for their scientific promise. Sites within each of the nine identified regions have the potential to provide key new insights into our understanding of rocky planets, lunar resources, and the history of our solar system.
      “Artemis III will be the first time that astronauts will land in the south polar region of the Moon. They will be flying on a new lander into a terrain that is unique from our past Apollo experience,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist. “Finding the right locations for this historic moment begins with identifying safe places for this first landing, and then trying to match that with opportunities for science from this new place on the Moon.”
      NASA’s site assessment team will engage the lunar science community through conferences and workshops to gather data, build geologic maps, and assess the regional geology of eventual landing sites. The team also will continue surveying the entire lunar South Pole region for science value and mission availability for future Artemis missions. This will include planning for expanded science opportunities during Artemis IV, and suitability for the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) as part of Artemis V.
      The agency will select sites within regions for Artemis III after it identifies the mission’s target launch dates, which dictate transfer trajectories, or orbital paths, and surface environment conditions.
      Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.
      For more information on Artemis, visit:
      https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis
      -end-
      James Gannon / Molly Wasser
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      james.h.gannon@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Oct 28, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
      Artemis Artemis 3 Earth's Moon Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Human Landing System Program Humans in Space Space Launch System (SLS) View the full article
  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...