ORLANDO, Fla. — NASA juggled light and dark to come up with 13 potential landing sites for the future Artemis III mission that will return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
Key to the choices was being able to find locations that could support the duo of astronauts for 6 1/2 days on the surface with enough sunlight to provide power and thermal protection, but also give access to the dark regions of craters and mountainous terrain near the moon’s south pole that could potentially hold water ice.
Finding water ice, which could be broken down into its component oxygen and hydrogen compounds to provide life-sustaining air and potential fuel, has been the driving force behind the initial Artemis missions.
