NASEM Report On Lunar Landing Sites

New Report Identifies Four Moon Sites for Crewed Missions to Explore to Advance Scientific Discovery According to the NASEM: Future crewed missions to the moon should prioritize exploring the Bhabha Crater, Mons Hadley, the Orientale Basin, and the Aristarchus Plateau, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine .

Exploring these four lunar sites will allow astronauts to pursue important cross-disciplinary scientific questions and provide a deeper understanding of how humans could live and thrive on the moon, the report says. Studying the nonpolar regions of the moon will offer new opportunities to answer important scientific questions about our nearest celestial neighbor, as well as about the solar system and universe.

With volcanic activity having ended over a billion years ago and no plate tectonics, the moon is geologically inactive, which along with other factors makes its surface a preserved record that scientists can study to better understand the moon’s formation, and examine materials from space that have impacted the moon.

Scientific exploration may also reveal the location of resources that could be used for human technology and spacefaring purposes. “Exploring these lunar sites will allow scientists to unlock new information about the moon that has never been available to us before,” said James Day, professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of California, San Diego, and co-chair of the committee that wrote the report.

“Returning to the moon will be a great achievement for humanity, and setting foot where we never have before will be a major moment for science.” The far side of the moon is shielded from radio frequency interference from Earth, making it an ideal place for groundbreaking discoveries in radio astronomy and other observations that could open new windows to investigating the universe.

There are also important questions related to biology and human health that could be addressed — for example, how lunar soil could be used to benefit long-term human habitation on the moon. “The four sites that our report recommends would give astronauts the chance to study questions as varied as how to use lunar soil to grow plants, to understanding the sources of gravitational waves,” said committee co-chair Daniel Dumbacher, professor of engineering practice in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University.

“These sites give science the best shot at learning as much as possible from a crewed mission beyond the South Pole of the moon.” Bhabha Crater Bhabha Crater would be the farthest and most isolated location humans have ever explored. Human explorers would be able to access material from the moon’s oldest preserved impact basin, investigate the lunar crust on the far side of the moon, and deploy radio and optical astronomy experiments.

Mons Hadley On the near side of the moon, the Mons Hadley region is near the landing site for the Apollo 15 mission. Revisiting the site would provide new information for future crewed missions by allowing the study of hardware and biological materials left exposed to the lunar environment for more than 50 years.

At Mons Hadley, explorers could collect new geological samples and samples from the Apollo 15 site to inform the Artemis program and moon-to-Mars planning. This site would also be suitable for a space weather observatory and an experiment to assess how material from the moon’s surface may mitigate radiation hazards, the report says.

Orientale Basin On the outer edge of the moon’s disk as seen from Earth, the Orientale Basin provides access to the best-preserved, large, multi-ringed impact basin in the solar system. Visiting this site would offer an unmatched variety of geological materials and a seismically quiet environment that will yield insight into the deep structure and origin of the moon, the report says.

Mission crews should return samples from the basin to Earth to better understand how the basin was formed, as well as deploy a gravitational wave observatory. Aristarchus Plateau Rising dramatically from ancient lava flows on the near side of the moon, the Aristarchus Plateau is a geologically rich volcanic landscape.

This site would provide the opportunity to collect samples that will yield insight into the variety of volcanic processes that have shaped the moon and potentially important resources that could support future exploration. This site would also be suitable for establishing a space weather observatory to improve space weather forecasting and for assessing how material from the moon’s surface may mitigate radiation hazards.

Improving Science Capabilities The report also makes recommendations for NASA that would enhance the ability of astronauts to explore these locations and pursue scientific discovery. NASA should develop the capability for astronauts to travel farther than the current maximum of 2 kilometers for extravehicular exploration, and ensure that instruments deployed by astronauts can operate over many day-to-night cycles on the moon.

NASA should also develop a high-resolution observational tool to be placed in orbit above the moon to ensure continued safety and planning for lunar missions, as well as a simple, unpressurized crewed rover for short excursions, and continuous communications capabilities to be used by humans working on the surface of the moon.

The study — undertaken by the Committee on Key Nonpolar Destinations Across the Moon to Address Decadal-Level Science Objectives with Human Explorers — was sponsored by NASA. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine.

They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. Download Report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member...

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