Where will future Artemis astronauts land on the lunar south pole? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers from Japan investigated new methods for identifying landing sites for future missions to the lunar surface. This study has the potential to help scientists, mission planners, and astronauts better understand new methods for exploring the Moon while maximizing mission success and reducing risk.
For the study, the researchers used high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs), which are 3-D renderings of a planetary body’s surface, to ascertain the best landing sites for future lunar surface operations. The DTMs were obtained from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Narrow Angle Camera (LRO-NAC) but scientists have traditionally had difficulty generating accurate DTMs due to data processing, image noise, and inaccurate surface features. Now, this team enhanced these DTMs by using new methods involving landscape shading and a number of computer programs to develop more accurate DTMs that can be used for identifying landing sites on future lunar missions.
The study notes, “This technique, which utilizes multiple viewpoints to resolve topographic details with higher precision, significantly improves vertical accuracy and resolution. Our methodology achieves a spatial resolution of 1 m pixel−1 and vertical precision of ±1.0 m, enabling clearer delineation of meter-scale lunar topographic features compared to previous models. These DTMs are expected to significantly support the Lunar Polar Exploration project and other forthcoming lunar exploration missions.”
This study comes as NASA and China are racing to land their astronauts on the lunar surface before 2030, with NASA’s Artemis program planning to land near the lunar south pole, specifically for water ice that can be used for future missions without the need of resupply from Earth.
How will DTMs help improve lunar surface operations for future missions in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: The Planetary Science Journal, NASA
Featured Image Credit: NASA