Permanent shadows hold water and the Moon's oldest secrets.
For the first time since Apollo, humanity is choosing where to stand on the Moon again — and this time, the choice carries the weight of science, equity, and the long road to Mars. NASA has identified nine candidate sites near the lunar south pole for the Artemis III mission, each selected not merely for accessibility but for what it might reveal about the origins of worlds. In the permanent shadows of that ancient terrain, frozen water and billion-year-old geology await the next generation of explorers, who will include the first woman, first Black astronaut, and first non-American to walk on the lunar surface.
- Nine sites near the Moon's south pole have been shortlisted for Artemis III, a mission that will end a half-century absence of human footprints on the lunar surface.
- The stakes are high: these regions harbor water ice in permanent shadow, offering both irreplaceable scientific data and the raw materials needed to sustain future deep-space missions.
- A cross-agency team has refined an earlier 2022 candidate list, weighing scientific value, launch windows, Earth communication, surface illumination, and safe landing feasibility for each location.
- No final site has been chosen yet — further scientific and engineering review lies ahead, keeping the mission's destination an open question with enormous consequences.
- Beyond logistics, the selection represents a civilizational choice: what questions will humanity ask at the edge of the known, and which landscapes will frame those answers?
NASA has released an updated list of nine candidate landing sites near the Moon's south pole for Artemis III, the mission that will return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo. The sites — including Cabeus B Peak, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Mons Mouton, Nobile Crater Rim 1 and 2, Gerlache Scarp 2, and Slater Plain — are not yet final, but they mark a decisive step in one of the most consequential decisions in modern space exploration.
The south pole was not chosen arbitrarily. Permanent shadows across this region have preserved water ice and volatile compounds for billions of years — resources that could be converted into fuel and oxygen for sustained operations, and scientific windows into the Moon's deepest past. The terrain here is among the oldest on the lunar surface, offering clues to how rocky planets form and how our solar system came to be.
The selection process was rigorous, weighing scientific potential against practical demands: launch window availability, Earth communication capability, surface illumination, and landing safety. Lunar science lead Sarah Noble noted that the south pole is fundamentally unlike the Apollo zones — older, colder, and rich with unanswered questions. 'Any of these landing areas will allow us to conduct remarkable science and make new discoveries,' she said.
Artemis III carries a historic human dimension as well. The mission will land the first woman, the first Black astronaut, and the first non-American on the Moon. The knowledge gathered will feed directly into NASA's preparation for crewed Mars missions. Choosing a landing site, then, is not merely an engineering problem — it is a declaration of what humanity intends to learn, and where it will look next.
NASA has narrowed its search for where to land humans on the Moon. On Monday, the agency released an updated roster of nine candidate landing sites clustered near the lunar south pole, each one a potential destination for Artemis III, the mission that will return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo. The sites are not yet final—they will undergo further scientific and engineering review—but they represent a significant step toward choosing where the next generation of lunar explorers will set foot.
This is not NASA's first attempt at mapping the terrain. The agency published an initial list of possibilities in 2022. What has changed is the lens through which these locations are being evaluated. A cross-agency team, working alongside partners from industry and the scientific community, has added some sites to the roster and removed others, each decision grounded in a careful assessment of scientific promise and practical mission requirements. The nine locations that remain—Cabeus B Peak, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Mons Mouton Plateau, Mons Mouton, Nobile Crater Rim 1, Nobile Crater Rim 2, Gerlache Scarp 2, and Slater Plain—each bring different geological signatures to the table. All of them cluster in a region that has never been explored by a crewed mission.
Why the south pole? The answer lies partly in what is already known to be there. Permanent shadows blanket portions of this region, creating cold traps where water ice and other volatile compounds have accumulated over billions of years. These frozen deposits represent both a scientific prize and a practical resource—water can be converted into fuel and breathable air, making it invaluable for sustained lunar operations. But the south pole also offers something else: some of the oldest terrain on the Moon, geological features that hold clues to the formation of rocky planets, the history of our solar system, and the origins of the Moon itself.
The selection process was rigorous. Scientists and engineers evaluated each site according to multiple criteria: scientific potential, availability within planned launch windows, the ability to maintain communication with Earth, surface illumination patterns, and the feasibility of landing and operating there safely. Sarah Noble, who leads the lunar science effort for Artemis, described the south pole as fundamentally different from the Apollo landing zones. "It offers access to some of the Moon's oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds," she said. "Any of these landing areas will allow us to conduct remarkable science and make new discoveries."
The geology team working on Artemis III has examined each of the nine regions through the lens of what can be learned there. Every site has the potential to yield essential information about how rocky planets form, what resources the Moon contains, and the broader story of our solar system's past. This is not simply about planting a flag or proving that humans can return to the Moon. It is about extracting knowledge that will reshape our understanding of planetary science.
Artemis III sits within a larger program designed to establish a foundation for long-term scientific exploration of the Moon. Through this effort, NASA intends to land the first woman on the lunar surface, the first Black astronaut, and the first person from outside the United States. The discoveries made during these missions will inform NASA's preparation for crewed expeditions to Mars and beyond. The choice of landing site, then, is more than a logistical decision—it is a choice about what questions humanity will ask next, and where it will search for answers.
Citas Notables
The south pole is a completely different environment from where we landed during Apollo. It offers access to some of the Moon's oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds.— Sarah Noble, lunar science lead for Artemis
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why focus on the south pole specifically? There's plenty of Moon elsewhere.
Because it's never been visited by humans, and because the permanent shadows there trap water ice. That combination—pristine geology plus accessible resources—doesn't exist anywhere else on the lunar surface.
So this is about science and survival at the same time.
Exactly. The water isn't just a nice-to-have. It's fuel, it's oxygen, it's the difference between a brief visit and a sustained presence.
And these nine sites—are they all equally good, or are some clearly better?
They each have different strengths. Some offer older geological formations, others better communication lines to Earth or more stable terrain. The team will keep studying them. The final choice will depend on what we learn in the coming months.
When does NASA actually decide?
That's still ahead. Right now this is about narrowing the field and understanding what each location can teach us. The decision will come later, once more analysis is complete.