Leaders at NASA have provided new details on the upcoming Artemis III mission to the Moon. Late last week, Mark Kirasich, a deputy administrator for the Artemis Campaign Development Division, says that the space agency is focusing on 13 locations on the lunar South Pole for Artemis III, which will be the first manned flight to the Moon’s surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. Kirasich adds that the announcement is the first step in NASA’s larger plan for lunar exploration, which will eventually allow for longer stays on the Moon’s surface and is very important for scientific and technological advancement.
Kirasich says that while Apollo missions stayed close to the Moon’s equator to energize their solar-powered equipment, Artemis missions will traverse the shadowy and largely unknown regions of the Moon’s South Pole. Tech experts and astronomers at NASA say that the lunar South Pole is potentially rich in resources that are important in understanding the evolution of the lunar landscape. Sarah Noble, who leads Artemis’s team at the agency’s Planetary Science Division, says that rocks and other materials recovered from the lunar South Pole will give experts at NASA an even greater understanding of the development of the Moon. A key part of any exploration of the lunar surface is examining the presence of water and ice on the Moon, which is expected to sit just under ground level. While the crew of Artemis III has not been selected yet, it is expected that the mission will also bring the first woman to the Moon.
The manned mission for Artemis III is just one part of an overarching plan for renewed lunar exploration by NASA. Artemis I, which is scheduled to launch next week from Kennedy Space Center, will serve as a test for the Orion crew capsule and the Space Launch System, a megarocket that will take Artemis crews to the Moon. Artemis II, which NASA hopes to launch in 2024, will be the program’s first manned mission and send a crew of astronauts in orbit around the Moon. Should everything go according to plan, NASA hopes to launch Artemis III in 2025 or 2026.
Dil Bole Oberoi
