NASA lists 13 candidate landing sites for Artemis-3 manned mission
Click for original image.
NASA yesterday revealed its first preliminary list of thirteen candidate landing sites for the Artemis-3 manned mission, the first manned mission the agency wants to send to the Moon in 2026.
The image to the right, reduced, enhanced, and annotated by me to post here, shows these thirteen zones in blue. I have added the red dot to mark what I understand to be the planned landing zone of Viper, an unmanned rover that NASA hopes to launch by ’23 at the latest. From the press release:
The team identified regions that can fulfill the moonwalk objective by ensuring proximity to permanently shadowed regions, and also factored in other lighting conditions. All 13 regions contain sites that provide continuous access to sunlight throughout a 6.5-day period – the planned duration of the Artemis III surface mission. Access to sunlight is critical for a long-term stay at the Moon because it provides a power source and minimizes temperature variations.
Note that this mission will land a Starship with crew at this South Pole region. That spacecraft’s large payload capacity likely means that it could conceivably leave behind supplementary supplies for a follow-up next mission, and thus speed up development of the first lunar base.
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Click for original image.
NASA yesterday revealed its first preliminary list of thirteen candidate landing sites for the Artemis-3 manned mission, the first manned mission the agency wants to send to the Moon in 2026.
The image to the right, reduced, enhanced, and annotated by me to post here, shows these thirteen zones in blue. I have added the red dot to mark what I understand to be the planned landing zone of Viper, an unmanned rover that NASA hopes to launch by ’23 at the latest. From the press release:
The team identified regions that can fulfill the moonwalk objective by ensuring proximity to permanently shadowed regions, and also factored in other lighting conditions. All 13 regions contain sites that provide continuous access to sunlight throughout a 6.5-day period – the planned duration of the Artemis III surface mission. Access to sunlight is critical for a long-term stay at the Moon because it provides a power source and minimizes temperature variations.
Note that this mission will land a Starship with crew at this South Pole region. That spacecraft’s large payload capacity likely means that it could conceivably leave behind supplementary supplies for a follow-up next mission, and thus speed up development of the first lunar base.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Hmmm.
Cart.
Horse.
Some assembly required.
Order is key.
They should wait to make sure the first one gets off the ground, before announcing these things.
sippin_bourbon: NASA management is playing a very clever PR game. They are pumping up the lunar landing, one way or the other. If SLS fails (very likely and something that NASA management is well aware of), they can use that PR to push for Starship/Superheavy to replace SLS and keep that lunar mission (and program) alive.
In other words, they are looking past SLS. Very wise.
Is this really 13 candidate landing sites? No, they never say that.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-identifies-candidate-regions-for-landing-next-americans-on-moon/
Each landing region is 9.3 miles by 9.3 miles in area. Given 13 such regions, that is ~1100 square miles. So, they never gave a “landing site” (latitude and longitude).
But they also listed in the press release “a landing site is a location within those regions with an approximate 328-foot (100-meter) radius.” So, if we base the definition solely on that area of that radius, you end up with pi*100meter^2=31415square meters=.031415 square kilometers=.0121 square miles for a landing site.
1100 square miles regional area/.0121 square miles per landing site=~90000 landing sites.
The lunar South Pole itself should be the site. Put an upward facing bullseye camera there.
The first to the water hole, with the biggest well-aimed rocks, wins.
Hitchcock Explains the “McGuffin”
https://youtu.be/mNkPLuBjZRM
1:23
Wayne
Best use of the McGuffin is in the film Ronin, by Frankenheimer with Jean Reno and Deniro, Skarsgard, and a few other big names.
Even a small role with Sean Bean (and he does not die).
Love that film.
sippin_bourbon-
Thanks for that!
Reference– The Impending Moon Landing….
Excuse if I haven’t been paying close attention– nobody really thinks we’re actually physically going to the Moon in 2026, do they?
Paul Whiteman Orchestra
Peggy Healy on Vocals
“It’s Only A Paper Moon” (1933 )
https://youtu.be/JCUqKlldc8E
3:20
“It’s a Barnum and Bailey world, Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn’t be make-believe.
If you believed in me…”
wayne,
I totally caught the reference.
Oh yeah, we are totally going to the moon by 20XX…
Ralph Kramden
“One of these days, Alice….”
(Futurama Parody– Honeymooners)
https://youtu.be/0P84NiVGJsw
0:32