NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced 13 candidate sites for landing in the `` Artemis plan '', a lunar exploration plan aiming to land astronauts on the moon in 2025.
It has been pointed out that ice may exist near the lunar south pole, which is a candidate site, and we plan to explore whether it can be used as drinking water or fuel in the future.
NASA is aiming to achieve the first lunar landing by astronauts since 1972 of the Apollo program with the goal of 2025 in the international lunar exploration program "Artemis Project" in which Japan and Europe also participate.
On the 19th, NASA announced a candidate site on the moon where astronauts aim to land.
The candidate sites are 13 locations near the South Pole of the Moon, and were selected based on considerations such as being able to communicate with the Earth and ensuring safe landing throughout the year.
It has been pointed out that there is a special place near the south pole of the moon that is not exposed to sunlight, and the possibility that water exists in the state of ice there.
After landing, the astronauts plan to investigate the surface and interior of the moon to explore the presence of ice and whether it can be used as drinking water or fuel in the future.
In the "Artemis Project", as the first stage, on the 29th of this month, we plan to launch the spacecraft "Orion" in an unmanned state using a large rocket and conduct a test flight to the moon.
After that, as the second stage, we will orbit the moon with a spacecraft carrying astronauts, and in the third stage, we aim to land astronauts on the moon by 2025.