Artemis III pre-selected landing sites engineering suitability analysis with illumination, communication and slope, based on LOLA terrain

Qian Huang; Shijie Liu; Xi Yang; Xiaohua Tong

doi:10.1117/12.3010268

15 November 2023 Artemis III pre-selected landing sites engineering suitability analysis with illumination, communication and slope, based on LOLA terrain

Qian Huang, Shijie Liu, Xi Yang, Xiaohua Tong

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12815, International Conference on Remote Sensing, Mapping, and Geographic Systems (RSMG 2023); 1281522 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3010268
Event: International Conference on Remote Sensing, Mapping, and Geographic Systems (RSMG 2023), 2023, Kaifeng, China

Abstract

NASA's Artemis III mission plans to land at the lunar south pole and has announced 13 pre-selected landing sites. The rugged terrain and complex illumination and communication conditions impose enormous challenges for landing and exploration at the lunar south pole. We simulated the illumination and Earth communication conditions for the Artemis III pre-selected landing sites between Jan. 1, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2026 at 5m/pixel and 1h intervals based on accurate LOLA terrain, and performed an engineering suitability analysis for 13 sites in combination with slope. The area of each site that meets the engineering constraints is calculated as an evaluation of the sites engineering suitability. Our analysis shows that Connecting Ridge has the best illumination conditions, the Malapert Massif and Leibnitz Beta Plateau areas have excellent Earth communication conditions, and Peak Near Shackleton and Nobile Rim 2 have excellent combined engineering suitability. We hope that this research will provide a useful reference for future lunar south pole exploration missions.

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Qian Huang, Shijie Liu, Xi Yang, and Xiaohua Tong "Artemis III pre-selected landing sites engineering suitability analysis with illumination, communication and slope, based on LOLA terrain", Proc. SPIE 12815, International Conference on Remote Sensing, Mapping, and Geographic Systems (RSMG 2023), 1281522 (15 November 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3010268

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