All articles tagged with #lunar south pole
China has delayed the Chang'e-7 mission, which would drill for water ice at the Moon’s south pole, saying the launch window could not be met. The postponement leaves open when China will try again, amid a broader race to exploit lunar water resources that includes upcoming missions from Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, and Blue Origin aimed at the south pole.
China’s Chang’e-7 mission, a multi-hop robotic expedition featuring an orbiter, lander, rover and a hopping spacecraft with international instruments, is targeting an Aug. 24, 2026 launch to the Moon’s south pole near Shackleton Crater. The mission will perform integrated orbital, landing, roaming and hopping operations to study the lunar environment and resources (including potential water ice), test new tech such as an image navigation system, and lay groundwork for a future crewed lunar landing by 2030 and the broader International Lunar Research Station with international partners.
Africa and partners will deploy the Bounced African Low Lunar Sphere (BALLS), three spherical low‑frequency radio probes, as a technology demonstrator on China’s Chang’e‑8 mission to the Moon’s south pole by 2029. The experiment aims to form a radio telescope array capable of observing very low-frequency signals (below ~20–50 MHz) from the early universe, serving as pathfinder hardware for the broader Africa2Moon network of 55 antennas on the lunar farside. Led by the Foundation for Space Development Africa with SARAO and collaborators across Africa, BALLS will relay data to a lunar lander and then back to Earth, with prototypes tested in 2026 and the broader mission contingent on continued collaboration with China.
NASA is considering sending its Mars rover backup, PROMISE, to the Moon’s south pole to test its scouting and resource-prospecting capabilities for a future lunar base, a move that would repurpose the rover but potentially limit Mars-rover testing and reflect a shifting emphasis from Mars to the Moon.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is testing the 66-pound Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS), a suitcase-sized seismometer designed to endure the Moon’s two-week polar night using an advanced multi-layer insulation blanket and a reworked lithium-ion battery charging method; if successful, LEMS would become the first American instrument to survive at the lunar south pole through darkness and operate for up to two years, providing seismic data to better map the Moon’s interior and supporting future Artemis missions.
NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a roughly 10-day crewed flyaround of the Moon to test systems ahead of future lunar landings and a long-term lunar presence. The flight aims to advance science—studying lunar geology and the southern polar region’s water ice—while also evaluating human physiology in deep-space conditions and laying groundwork for a lunar base and eventual missions to Mars as part of the broader Artemis program.
China's upcoming Chang'e 7 lunar mission, scheduled for 2026, aims to explore the moon's south pole, search for water ice, and support future lunar base plans, featuring international payloads and advanced scientific instruments.
Blue Origin has secured a NASA contract worth approximately $190 million to deliver the VIPER rover to the lunar south pole using its Blue Moon MK1 lander, marking a significant step in lunar exploration and resource prospecting, with the rover expected to operate for about 100 days to study water ice deposits crucial for future human missions.
NASA's VIPER rover, set to launch toward the moon later this year, has reached a major milestone with over 80% of its construction completed. The rover will land near the lunar south pole to search for water ice and resources to support future Artemis astronauts. VIPER will spend 100 days collecting data and mapping resources, becoming the first-ever resource mapping mission on another celestial body. The rover's systems are undergoing crucial testing to ensure its success in the extreme lunar environment.
New images from the Odysseus mission show the spacecraft after its historic soft touchdown on the moon, with all instruments transmitting data despite setbacks during descent. The spacecraft, developed by Intuitive Machines, landed near the lunar south pole and is successfully delivering data from NASA instruments and commercial payloads, including a dual-camera observatory. NASA's Navigation Doppler Lidar played a critical role in the mission's success, despite initial navigation issues and the spacecraft landing on its side.
The Moon's shrinking size is causing significant seismic activity near the lunar south pole, jeopardizing potential landing sites for future manned missions and outposts. The area, targeted for its water deposits, has experienced strong moonquakes, posing threats to personnel and settlements. The Moon's contraction, driven by its hot, molten core and tidal forces from Earth, leads to the formation of thrust faults and moonquakes. This tectonic activity raises concerns for the stability of future lunar outposts and the safety of human presence on the Moon.
New research funded by NASA suggests that the moon's core cooling and shrinking is causing its surface to develop creases, leading to "moonquakes" and landslides, potentially posing a threat to future human settlers and equipment in the lunar south pole region. Despite the moon's appearance as a geologically dead object, it is still seismically active due to its hot interior, with faults and landslides being detected. While the findings will not affect the Artemis III mission, they could impact long-term human presence on the moon, prompting the need for more data and consideration of geographic characteristics. Moonquakes, though potentially problematic for future manned missions, are seen as an opportunity to study the moon's interior structure and present-day activity.
New research funded by NASA suggests that the moon's core cooling and shrinking is causing its surface to develop creases, leading to "moonquakes" and landslides, potentially posing a threat to future human settlers and equipment in the lunar south pole region. Despite the moon's appearance as a geologically dead object, it is still seismically active due to its hot interior, with faults and landslides being detected. While the findings will not affect the Artemis III landing region selection process, they could impact long-term human presence on the moon, prompting the need for more data and consideration of geographic characteristics. Moonquakes are seen as an opportunity for scientific study, providing insight into the moon's interior structure and present-day activity.
New research funded by NASA has found that the moon's core cooling and shrinking is causing its surface to develop creases and moonquakes, potentially posing a threat to future human settlers and equipment in the lunar south pole region. Despite the moon's appearance, it remains seismically active due to its hot interior, with the strongest recorded moonquake equivalent to a magnitude 5.0 on Earth. While these findings won't affect the Artemis III landing region selection process, they highlight the need for more data and caution for future manned missions to the moon.
A NASA-funded study reveals that the moon's shrinking is causing moonquakes and faults near the lunar south pole, potentially impacting future crewed lunar missions. The study suggests that shallow moonquakes and the formation of new thrust faults are possible, posing risks to permanent outposts on the moon. Unlike earthquakes, moonquakes can last for hours and are more likely to trigger landslides. The research emphasizes the importance of considering seismic activity when planning for the safety of astronauts and infrastructure on the moon.