NASA spoke about possible landing zones for Artemis 3 on the Moon

NASA has finally shared details about nine possible regions it could use as landing zones for Artemis 3 on the Moon. The Artemis III mission is one of the most exciting and highly anticipated space missions of the next decade, and until now NASA has been very tight-lipped about where it plans to land astronauts.

Until we wait Artemis III will be launched soon – latest Delay of Artemis II likely means we’ll have to wait even longer for the third mission – many are eagerly awaiting more details from NASA. The space agency has finally relented and shared details of nine regions where it could locate its next lunar lander.

All nine possible Artemis III landing zones are located near the Moon’s South Pole, which astronomers believe may hold fascinating secrets such as moon beads retention of crystallized water. This new list of possible candidates has been further refined from NASA’s original list and includes (in no particular order) the following areas:

• Peak near Cabeus B
• Haworth
• Malapert Massif
• Mons Mouton plateau
• Mons Mouton
• Nobile Rome 1
• Nobile Rome 2
• de Gerlache Rome 2
• Slater Plain

Now it remains to be seen whether NASA will make a decision on any specific region anytime soon. Thanks to SpaceX’s recent success in catch Starship during the fifth challengeArtemis missions don’t seem as out of reach as they did just a few months ago, when SpaceX barely managed to keep Starship from exploding during the first test flights.

While NASA doesn’t plan to use Starship for every leg of the journey, SpaceX will play a vital role in returning humanity to the Moon for the first time since the 1970s. NASA also says that in selecting these possible landing zones for Artemis III, the team assessed the capabilities of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, Orion capsule and Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to ensure they would work with each region.