US: NASA has identified 13 possible landing sites on the Moon as the space agency gears up for its Artemis mission, which aims to put US astronauts back on the Earth’s satellite by 2025.
The zones are located near the lunar South Pole, according to the agency’s statement released on Friday. “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, referring to the agency’s 1972 mission, which marked the last time humans set foot on the Moon. The potential landing locations, each approximately 15 by 15 kilometres, are situated within six degrees of latitude of the lunar South Pole and contain diverse geologic features. According to NASA, when selecting these zones, scientists and engineers relied on troves of data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the agency’s unmanned spacecraft that is now circling the Moon, as well as decades of other lunar science findings. - RUSSIA TODAY
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