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Lunar exploration and infrastructure development near the Moon's south pole, and at other future lunar settlements, demand a detailed understanding of the geotechnical properties, structure, composition, and stratigraphy of the near-surface lunar regolith. Long term exploration and development activities will require the use of regolith as a construction material for multiple structures, and as unrefined material for resource extraction during in situ resource utilization (ISRU) activities. Upcoming robotic and human exploration will be concentrated near the lunar south pole, which has a dominantly feldspathic composition typical of the lunar highlands. Past missions to lunar highlands terrain (Apollo 16, Luna 20) provide valuable "ground truth" data regarding the geomechanical properties of highlands regolith that serve as a guide for future exploration at the lunar south pole. Lunar highlands simulant LHS-1 has well-characterized geotechnical properties and is an appropriate analogue for highlands lunar regolith in terrestrial engineering studies. Cone penetrometer testing (CPT) measurements of LHS-1 reveal a strong exponential correlation between the G slope parameter and bulk density, which allows information to be obtained regarding the density profile of simulated regolith columns directly from CPT stress versus penetration curves. We show that LHS-1 can be used to replicate the near-surface regolith stratigraphy at the Apollo 16 highland landing region in Earth-based laboratories. The ultimate CPT penetration resistance measured in the laboratory under terrestrial gravity is not directly comparable to that measured under lunar gravity, and here we derive an average reduction factor of Rf = 0.29 to scale penetration resistance values to those measured in situ on the lunar surface. Geotechnical measurements of other lunar simulants combined with experiments similar to those described herein, tailored to the terrain type of interest, will provide crucial information to guide future regolith excavation, construction, and ISRU activities on the lunar surface. • LHS-1 lunar simulant is an appropriate geotechnical analogue for highlands regolith. • A strong correlation exists between CPT penetration resistance and regolith density. • Apollo 16 highlands regolith stratigraphy can be replicated on Earth using LHS-1. • Earth-based CPT values should be reduced by × 0.29 to adjust for lunar conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on India's shift towards incorporating traditional knowledge into its education system to move away from its colonial legacy, with a particular emphasis on the inclusion of historical achievements like zinc distillation. Topics include the debate over whether the new curriculum will correctly represent India's diverse cultural heritage, concerns about potential bias and misinformation, and the practical challenges and responses from various institutions and educators.

Cislunar L 4 or L 5 axial orbit families are continuous asymmetrical periodic orbits from the figure-8 orbit around L 4 or L 5 Lagrange point of the Earth–Moon system to the halo-family around the Moon. They provide special locations of lunar relay satellites for the lunar south pole due to their offset locations. In this paper, we investigate the orbital characters and applications of cislunar L 4 and L 5 axial orbits. A construction method of cislunar L 4 and L 5 axial orbit families is proposed according to their topological feature in the torus space. Then, lunar relay performances, including coverage and eclipse, are analyzed for different cislunar L 4 and L 5 axial orbits. Numerical computation indicates that 3:1 resonant L 4 and L 5 axial orbits are the optimal options in terms of the stability, coverage and eclipse avoidance. Lunar relay performances of a two-satellite constellation deployed in these orbits are compared with that in a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). Numerical results show that the constellation of axial orbits can provide longer contact duration to the lunar equator and southern hemisphere than that of the NRHO. Finally, a station-keeping strategy and a transfer design of cislunar L 4 and L 5 axial orbits are developed, and their fuel costs are studied. • Cislunar axial orbits are studied for relay mission of the lunar exploration. • The 3:1 cislunar axial orbit is selected for the eclipse avoidance. • A constellation on axial orbits has longer contact duration than NRHOs. • The corresponding station-keeping method and transfer design are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, interest in the Moon has grown exponentially, thanks mainly to space programs with strong international cooperation, such as the NASA Artemis program. Several scientific committees have identified the lunar south pole as the region of greatest interest for building a lasting and sustainable human settlement. However, the knowledge we have of this area is still limited. This work aims to provide a general overview of the main physical and morphological features of the lunar south pole and to propose a first iteration of spectroscopic observations within the visible range from the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory, giving a new and different perspective. The objective is to verify the feasibility of an Earth-based spectroscopic survey to detect water and the abundances of other volatiles and elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of the analysis of data from the Russian neutron spectrometer LEND (Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector), installed aboard NASA's lunar orbiter LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter). An estimate of the content of subsurface water ice in the permanently shadowed region Cabeus-1, located inside the large Cabeus crater in the vicinity of the lunar south pole, has been obtained. The analysis used observations made with the LEND instrument from 2009 to 2023. It is shown that the surface neutron albedo in the vicinity and inside of Cabeus-1 correlates with the relief height and the distribution of average annual temperatures. The average subsurface water ice content over the entire Cabeus-1 region was estimated to be 0.49 ± 0.05% by mass fraction. The maximum value of about 0.7% is observed at the very bottom of the crater on the surface area where the minimum average annual temperature was recorded. This site coincides with the site of the LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) impact experiment, which confirmed a significant amount of water ice in the near-surface material of the Moon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) of the lunar surface are crucial for lunar exploration missions and scientific research. The emergence of advanced technologies, such as Shape-from-Shading (SfS), has enabled the generation of pixel-wise high-resolution DEMs from monocular images of the lunar surface. However, SfS encounters significant challenges in locations with limited illumination, such as the lunar south pole, where the surface is largely covered by shadows. Therefore, this paper presents a novel shadow-constrained SfS approach for pixel-wise 3D surface reconstruction at the lunar south pole. The proposed approach uses multiple high-resolution images captured under different illumination conditions and an existing low-resolution DEM as the inputs and generates a high-resolution DEM with the same resolution as that of the input image through hierarchical SfS processing incorporating shadow constraints. Experiments were conducted using actual images collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) at the lunar south pole. Comparisons with respect to photogrammetric DEMs generated from stereo NAC images show that the DEMs generated using the proposed approach exhibit the smallest root mean square error (RMSE). Moreover, shaded relief images rendered from the DEMs generated using the proposed approach demonstrate the highest similarity to the actual NAC images. Detailed profile comparisons further validate the effectiveness of the shadow constraint in optimizing 3D reconstruction in regions in proximity to shadows and within shadowed regions. The proposed shadow-constrained SfS approach can be used to generate high-resolution DEMs to support future missions to explore the lunar south pole, with applications including landing site evaluation and route planning for lunar probes or astronauts.

The paper presents new detailed radar maps and polarimetric data covering the southern polar region of the near side of the Moon measuring 400 × 800 km with a spatial resolution of about 75 m. The data were obtained using the 64-meter antenna (TNA-1500) of the Satellite Communications Center Bear Lakes of the Special Design Bureau of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and the 13.2-meter radio telescope (RT-13) of the Svetloe Observatory of the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, at a wavelength of 4.2 cm. At this wavelength, radar signals penetrate the lunar regolith to depths of up to 1 m and are sensitive to surface and suspended rocks larger than 1 cm. The maps show 39% of the area of permanently shadowed regions not observable by optical Earth-based instruments, which may hide water ice deposits. Analysis of radar maps did not reveal any relationship between the polarization properties of the surface in these regions and the presence of solar illumination. The data obtained as a result of this work can be used to study the surface and subsurface regolith features of the lunar south polar region, including searching for ice deposits in permanently shadowed regions, as well as for planning future lunar missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution and high-accuracy mapping products of the Lunar South Pole (LSP) will play a vital role in future lunar exploration missions. Existing lunar global mapping products cannot meet the needs of engineering tasks, such as landing site selection and rover trajectory planning, at the LSP. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)'s narrow-angle camera (NAC) can acquire submeter images and has returned a large amount of data covering the LSP. In this study, we combine stereo-photogrammetry and photoclinometry to generate high-resolution digital orthophoto maps (DOMs) and digital elevation models (DEMs) using LRO NAC images for a candidate landing site at the LSP. The special illumination and landscape characteristics of the LSP make the derivation of high-accuracy mapping products from orbiter images extremely difficult. We proposed an easy-to-implement shadow recognition and contrast stretching method based on the histograms of the LRO NAC images, which is beneficial for photogrammetric and photoclinometry processing. In order to automatically generate tie points, we designed an image matching method considering LRO NAC images' features of long strips and large data volumes. The terrain and smoothness constraints were introduced into the cost function of photoclinometry adjustment, excluding pixels in shadow areas. We used 61 LRO NAC images to generate mapping products covering an area of 400 km2. The spatial resolution of the generated DOMs was 1 m/pixel, and the grid spacing of the derived DEMs was 1 m (close to the spatial resolution of the original images). The generated DOMs achieved a relative accuracy of better than 1 pixel. The geometric accuracy of the DEM derived from photoclinometry was consistent with the lunar orbiter laser altimeter (LOLA) DEM with a root mean square error of 0.97 m and an average error of 0.17 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excluding rough areas with surface rocks and craters is critical for the safety of landing missions, such as China's Chang'e-7 mission, in the permanently shadowed region (PSR) of the lunar south pole. Binned digital elevation model (DEM) data can describe the undulating surface, but the DEM data can hardly detect surface rocks because of median-averaging. High-resolution images from a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can be used to map discrete rocks and small craters according to their strong backscattering. This study utilizes the You Only Look Once version 7 (YOLOv7) tool to detect varying-sized craters in SAR images. It also employs the Markov random field (MRF) algorithm to identify surface rocks, which are usually difficult to detect in DEM data. The results are validated by optical images and DEM data in non-PSR. With the assistance of the DEM data, regions with slopes larger than 10° are excluded. YOLOv7 and MRF are applied to detect craters and rocky surfaces and exclude regions with steep slopes in the PSRs of craters Shoemaker, Slater, and Shackleton, respectively. This study proves SAR images are feasible in the selection of landing sites in the PSRs for future missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed lunar telescope for optical and infrared astronomy aims at very large aperture, 600 m2, at a fundable cost. It comprises an array of 18 separate telescopes, each of 6.5 m aperture. The 200 m diameter array will be located within 1/2° (15 km) of a lunar pole on approximately level ground, with a perimeter screen deployed to provide shade and cooling to cryogenic temperature. The 500 m diameter screen will allow unobscured access down to 8° elevation. All 18 telescopes will reflect light into a central beam combiner to form a single image covering wavelengths from 0.4 µm to 10 µm. The initial instrument complement will include high-resolution and multi-object spectrographs to exploit the single combined field of view of two arcminute diameter, with the diffraction limited resolution of 6.5 m aperture. Scientific applications include the search for molecular biosignatures in transiting exoplanets, and the study of galaxy evolution using red-shifted spectra to beyond z = 10. The array cost, including delivery to the Moon by SpaceX Starship for installation using lunar base infrastructure, is around $10 billion, similar to that of the 25 m2 JWST. To test the concept, first a single prototype 6.5 m unit would be operated at the lunar south pole. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades (part 2)'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diurnal variation and distribution of lunar surficial hydration (OH/H2O) is of great significance for understanding the solar wind implantation and water cycle on the Moon. Lunar south pole is an ideal place to study the diurnal variation of surficial hydration due to the large number of repeat observations of the same region, which is very limited in mid‐ or low‐latitudes. Here we showed clear 0.5‐hr interval diurnal variation of surficial hydration at lunar south pole. The variation of hydration band depth with local time is exactly the opposite to the variation of temperature, indicating that lunar surficial hydration changes sufficiently with temperature. This relationship indicates that both the diurnal variation and hydration content are latitude dependent. Our observations support the hypothesis that the diurnal variation of hydration on the Moon is due to the formation of metastable hydroxyl. Plain Language Summary: Hydration (OH/H2O) has been found on the surface of the Moon due to the implantation of solar wind. Hydration contents in the morning and evening were observed to be higher than that at local noon. Lunar south pole is a very good place to study the diurnal variation of surficial hydration compared with other places of the Moon as there are a lot of repeat observations of the same area at different local times. We conducted a detailed investigation of surficial hydration at the lunar south pole based on repeat Moon Mineralogy Mapper near‐infrared data. We found surficial hydration at lunar south pole gradually decreases toward local noon, and then recovers to the morning level at evening. The variation trend is exactly the opposite to the temperature, indicating lunar surficial hydration changes sufficiently with instantaneous temperature. These observations provide clues for studies on the formation and evolution of volatiles on the Moon and other airless bodies. Key Points: 0.5‐hr interval diurnal variation of lunar surficial hydration was revealed at lunar south pole for the first timeLunar surficial hydration changes sufficiently with instantaneous temperatureLunar surficial hydration did not change when the Moon enters the Earth's magnetotail [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's space program attracted international admiration in 2023 for becoming the first country to successfully land a craft on the moon's south pole. The program is now in its sixth decade and stands as one of India's most successful technology missions, not least for the hard currency revenues it generates. The reasons for this success are less well known: they include inspired early leadership, considerable foreign assistance, a strategic decision to leapfrog traditional "stages of growth," and relative autonomy from India's powerful state bureaucracy. Over the years, the space program has moved from being a developmental focus to serving as a lens through which the nation views itself and its place in the world. The essay closes by imagining what its founders would think of the space program today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the foreign media coverage of India's Chandrayan-3 mission, which was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on July 14, 2023. The mission aims to put a lander and a rover on the Moon's highlands near its south pole. The article highlights the perspectives and reporting of major foreign media outlets such as The Guardian, BBC, Aljazeera, CNN, The New York Times, France24, Dawn, and The Nation. The coverage generally praises India's space exploration efforts and acknowledges its growing role in the field. The successful completion of the Chandrayan-3 mission could contribute significantly to the knowledge domain of space exploration and open up new opportunities for deep space exploration. [Extracted from the article]

Recently, we have seen a series of space missions to the Moon and asteroids, whether for exploratory or scientific purposes, with possibilities of a lot of profitability in a sustainable way. Given this scenario, the Garatéa-L Mission (from the Brazilian original people language Tupi-Guarani, "Search for Life") stands out, a genuinely Brazilian mission, whose main objective is to place a 6U brazilian cubeSat in orbit around the Moon, in 2024 or 2025, with the aim of carrying out experiments in astrobiology and studying the Aitken Basin, a basin located at the lunar south pole. In this context, the main goal of the present work is to study the orbits that meet the needs of the mission, obeying the necessary parameters of 300 km of periselene and 3000 km of aposelene. The system is formed by the Moon (the central body) and its gravitational coefficients, J 2 , J 3 and C 22 , the Earth as the perturbing body and a particle (cubesat). As a result, we obtained a sample of orbits that meets the requirements of the mission, their lifetimes in the region of interest and the evolution of the semi-major axis and eccentricity for each value of the inclination analysed. The results showed that the largest number of orbits with the longest lifetime have inclinations of 60° and 65°, with a semi-major axis of 3460 km and an eccentricity of approximately 0.38, remaining in the mission's region of interest for an approximate period of 180 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lunar south pole is a region of focused scientific and exploration interest, with several crewed and robotic missions to this region planned within the next decade. Understanding the mineralogy of the region is essential to inform landing site characterization and selection and provides the key context for interpreting samples and in situ observations. At high latitudes, extreme illumination conditions (high phase angles) can negatively impact the data quality of orbital instruments. This is especially true for passive near‐infrared spectrometers such as the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and the Kaguya Spectral Profiler, which measure the spectral properties of the surface using reflected sunlight. Using Moon Mineralogy Mapper data, we observed that the south polar region is associated with a detectable mafic signature consistent with the presence of pyroxenes. The strongest mafic signatures are associated with the South Pole—Aitken Basin, suggesting that impact melt and basin ejecta from the lower crust and upper mantle are present within this region. This observation is validated in several ways: (a) comparisons between M3 data acquired during different mission phases, (b) comparisons between multiple spectral parameters sensitive to the presence of mafic minerals, (c) comparisons between the north and south lunar polar regions, and (d) comparisons with publicly available Kaguya polar mineralogy maps and Lunar Prospector elemental abundances. We also investigate the nature of an anomalous high‐albedo region within 2–3° of the south pole observed in Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter reflectance data exhibiting a spatially conflicting apparent FeO abundance pattern between several data sets. Plain Language Summary: The lunar south pole region is a region of focused scientific and exploration interest, with several crewed and robotic missions to this region currently planned within the next decade and beyond. The rocks and minerals at the lunar south pole are very different from those encountered during the Apollo missions and will provide insight into a wide range of important science questions. It is important to understand the abundance and distribution of these different materials to effectively choose landing sites and plan surface science experiments and sampling targets. We combine several data sets from orbital satellites to determine the types and distribution of rocks across the south polar region. We see evidence for the presence of lower crust and upper mantle materials excavated by a nearby giant impact basin. Key Points: Moon Mineralogy Mapper data shows that the south polar region exhibits a mafic signature consistent with the presence of pyroxenesMafic signatures are spatially correlated with ejecta from the South Pole—Aitken Basin, which may be sampled by Artemis astronautsAn anomalous high‐albedo region within ∼3° of the south pole exhibits spatially conflicting apparent FeO abundance patterns between several data products [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its special significance, exploration missions and research at the Lunar South Pole (LSP) are of considerable importance. The mapping products of the LSP such as Digital Ortho Maps (DOMs) and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are essential to support exploration missions. However, in the LSP region, the available data are relatively limited. The large amounts of shadows and the special environment of the LSP has an important impact on both image matching and generation of mapping products. In this paper, we propose a photogrammetric processing method to improve the accuracy of the LRO NAC images by using LOLA DEM as auxiliary control data. The LOLA DEM was first rendered using the same illumination conditions as the corresponding LRO NAC raw images, and then matched to the LRO NAC DOMs. Next, the corresponding elevations of the tie points between LOLA DEMs and LRO NAC images were extracted and automatically added to the control network for bundle adjustment. In order to verify the feasibility of the method, we selected 17 LRO NAC images near the LSP at 85° south latitude. The results show that the proposed method can efficiently acquire uniformly distributed elevation control points for bundle adjustment and the generated DEM has a good consistency with the LOLA DEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has been a boom in lunar exploration. China, India, Japan and other countries have successfully landed landers or rovers on the lunar surface (Wu et al., 2014, 2018, 2020; Prasad et al., 2023). Future missions to explore the Moon are focusing on the lunar south pole (Peña-Asensio et al., 2024). The solar altitude angle at the lunar south pole is extremely low, resulting in low solar irradiance and large areas often in dim light or shadows. The permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar south pole are also likely containing substantial amounts of water ice (Li et al., 2018). Future lunar robots exploring the lunar south pole will need to operate in low light or shadowed regions, making camera sensors sensitive to the dim-light environments necessary for these robots. Common night vision sensors usually use near-infrared cameras. However, sensors based on passive infrared technology have image resolution limited by several factors, including the intensity of infrared radiation emitted by the object, the sensitivity of the camera, and the performance of the optical system. For instance, thermal imagers typically have a resolution of 388*284 pixels only. We have developed a dim-light adaptive camera (DimCam) that is ultra-sensitive to the varying illumination conditions driven by AI to achieve high-definition imaging of 1080P or above, for future lunar robots operating in shadows or dim-light regions. The DimCam integrates two starlight-level ultra-sensitive imaging sensors connected by a rigid base to provide stereo vision in low illumination environment. An AI edge computing unit is embedded inside the DimCam to adaptively denoise and enhance image quality. The AI module uses an end-to-end image denoising network to identify and remove noises in the images more accurately by utilizing depth information from the stereo sensors. Compared with traditional monocular denoising algorithms, the denoising network based on stereo vision can significantly improve denoising effects and efficiency by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio of the data input in the front end. The superposition of overlapping scenes can be regarded as a delayed exposure. Concurrently, the residual analysis of the aligned images aids in noise identification. In addition, for pixels obscured by noise, more accurate pixel values can be restored through interpolation or replacement using depth information obtained from the stereo sensors. Subsequently, a pre-trained lightweight deep network modified from Zero-DCE (Guo et al., 2020) is used for image quality enhancement in terms of brightness and contrast, providing high-quality images even in low-light environments for subsequent applications, such as positioning and navigation of robots, 3D mapping of the surrounding environment, and autonomous driven. We have tested the DimCam in a simulated environment in the laboratory, and the results show that the DimCam has promising performances and great potential for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of optimal landing sites is a critical first step for successful missions to the Moon and other extraterrestrial bodies, necessitating the integration of various environmental factors over large spatial scales. At the lunar south pole, site selection must balance engineering safety with areas of high scientific interest, requiring extensive analysis of potential locations. Although intelligent algorithms have been increasingly investigated for this purpose, the application of deep learning techniques in landing site selection remains unexplored. In this study, we employ one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-CNNs) to quantitatively assess potential landing sites for exploration and lunar base construction, considering both scientific and engineering criteria. We also evaluate the influence of various factors on site selection using Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) values. The 1D-CNN model demonstrates robust performance across training, validation, and testing phases. Potential landing sites identified comprise less than 1% of the total study area, with factors such as visibility, volatile distribution, topography, and geological characteristics playing crucial roles. By applying operational constraints, we delineate sites suitable for direct landings and further refine this subset for base construction based on stringent requirements for resource utilization and energy sustainability. The combined use of CNN and SHAP enables more effective potential site screening and a deeper understanding of the factors influencing selection. Our findings offer a valuable framework for future lunar south pole expeditions, potentially minimizing manual survey efforts and enhancing the precision of landing site selection.

With the increasing interest in the south polar region of the Moon, there is an urgent need for high-resolution mapping products to support future exploration. Bundle block adjustment (BBA) is able to improve the spatial positioning accuracy of images used to generate high-precision mapping products. However, the impacts of weak-convergence geometry and poor illumination conditions in lunar south pole on BBA still need to be solved. This article proposes a large-scale robust BBA method for narrow angle camera (NAC) images in south pole. The NAC images are taken from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which are scanner-type images requiring special treatment beyond the classical BBA of framing camera images. To handle the weak-convergence geometry issue of stereo NAC imagery, a topographic constraint using reference digital elevation model is integrated into BBA with an appropriate weighting scheme to estimate local topographic relief. In addition, a two-stage outlier elimination strategy for BBA with absolute-relative thresholding and iteratively reweighting methods is presented to reject outliers caused by the poor illumination conditions in lunar south pole. Thousands of images are used for experimental tests and lunar orbiter laser altimeter digital elevation models (DEMs) with different resolutions are used as reference data. The satisfactory experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of our BBA method. The proposed large-scale BBA method reduces the relative positioning errors in block network to within 1 m, and decreases the inconsistency between NAC images caused by the orientation errors to less than 0.5 pixel, which offers a reliable solution for large-scale controlled mapping.

• Multi-wavelength signatures of volatiles have been detected in lunar south pole. • Low axial tilt allows permanently shaded cold traps like Shackleton Crater. • Shackleton Crater exhibits above average albedo vis-a-vis lunar south pole. • Certain regions in the lunar south pole exhibit albedo even higher than Shackleton. Shackleton Crater on the Moon is named in honor of a pivotal figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton. The Crater was formed about 3.6 billion years ago at the Lunar South Pole. Due to the low (1.5°) tilt of the lunar axis of rotation, the interiors of the crater receive almost no direct sunlight and observations by passive hyperspectral sensors are only possible due to reflected light. Active sensors are however able to illuminate the interior surface of the crater and make observations. Here we present the results of study of the crater using data from multiple sensors onboard two missions of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Hyperspectral observations from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on-board Chandrayaan-1, temperature from Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE), albedo from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and Off/On band ratios from Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) on board Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have been used. Permanently Shaded Regions (PSRs) are identified and Shackleton has been found, as reported, to be a PSR. Emphasis has been laid on LOLA albedo analysis of lunar south pole (80°-90° South). It is observed that the Shackleton Crater exhibits significantly higher albedo compared to its surrounding regions. Some regions exhibit albedo even higher than the Shackleton Crater in the lunar south pole region. The findings of high albedo, coupled with high Off/On band ratio of LAMP, extremely low DLRE temperatures in the permanently shaded regions and detection of hydration features in the M3 hyperspectral data suggests higher probability of hydration in the Shackleton Crater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the cornerstone mission of the fourth phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, Chang'E-7 (CE-7) was officially approved, and implementation started in 2022, including a main probe and a communication relay satellite. The main probe, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, a rover and a mini-flying probe, is scheduled to be launched in 2026. The lander will land on Shackleton crater's illuminated rim near the lunar south pole, along with the rover and mini-flying probe. The relay satellite (named Queqiao-2) will be launched in February 2024 as an independent mission to support relay communication during scientific exploration undertaken by Chang'E-4, the upcoming Chang'E-6 in 2024 and subsequent lunar missions. The CE-7 mission is mainly aimed at scientific and resource exploration of the lunar south pole. We present CE-7's scientific objectives, the scientific payloads configuration and the main functions for each scientific payload with its key technical specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a description of the crater in the marginal zone of the southern polar region of the Moon with the coordinates of the center 126.59° W, 64.32° S The diameter of the crater is 34 km. It has a fractured bottom, which is considered a sign of magma intrusion into the subcrater space. The absolute age of formation of the crater under study was estimated to be ~3.85 billion years based on the spatial density of small craters superimposed on its rim. In the vicinity of the studied crater, low-iron anorthosite material is predominant. It can be argued that the basin of the crater under study is very dry compared to its surroundings. A significant loss of hydrogen/water and its redistribution from the bottom of the crater to the area around the crater could be caused by reworking of the surface due to the intrusion of magma under the crater, traces of which can be traced by the presence of cracks on the bottom of the crater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water ice has been found in the permanently shadowed regions of impact craters around the lunar South Pole, which makes them ideal areas for in situ exploration missions. However, near the rim of impact craters, construction and exploration activities may cause slope instability. As a result, a better understanding of the shear strength of lunar soil under higher stress conditions is required. This paper mainly uses the finite element method to analyze slope stability to determine the position and shape of the slip surface and assess the safety factor. The height and gradient of the slope, the shear strength of lunar soil, and the lunar surface mission all influence the stability of the slope. We also analyze the soil mechanical properties of a soil slope adjacent to the traverse path of the Chang'E-4 Yutu-2 rover. Determining the stability of the slope at the lunar South Pole impact crater under various loading conditions will enhance the implementation of the lunar surface construction program. In this respect, this paper simulates a lunar mission landing at the Shackleton and Shoemaker craters and indicates that areas with higher cohesion lunar soil may be more stable for exploration in the more complex terrain of the South Pole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Artemis exploration zone is a topographically complex impact-cratered terrain. Steep undulating slopes pose a challenge for walking extravehicular activities (EVAs) anticipated for the Artemis III and subsequent missions. Using 5 m/pixel Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) measurements of the surface, an automated Python pipeline was developed to calculate traverse paths that minimize metabolic workload. The tool combines a Monte Carlo method with a minimum-cost path algorithm that assesses cumulative slope over distances between a lander and stations, as well as between stations. To illustrate the functionality of the tool, optimized paths to permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are calculated around potential landing sites 001, nearby location 001(6), and 004, all within the Artemis III 'Connecting Ridge' candidate landing region. We identified 521 PSRs and computed (1) traverse paths to accessible PSRs within 2 km of the landing sites, and (2) optimized descents from host crater rims into each PSR. Slopes are limited to 15° and previously identified boulders are avoided. Surface temperature, astronaut body illumination, regolith bearing capacity, and astronaut-to-lander direct view are simultaneously evaluated. Travel times are estimated using Apollo 12 and 14 walking EVA data. A total of 20 and 19 PSRs are accessible from sites 001 and 001(6), respectively, four of which maintain slopes <10°. Site 004 provides access to 11 PSRs, albeit with higher EVA workloads. From the crater rims, 94 % of PSRs can be accessed. All round-trip traverses from potential landing sites can be performed in under 2 h with a constant walk. Traverses and descents to PSRs are compiled in an atlas to support Artemis mission planning. • Development of an automated pipeline to calculate optimized traverse paths for EVAs. • Mapping of 521 PSRs using LOLA data within the Artemis III 'Connecting Ridge' region. • We evaluate paths to PSRs within 2 km of potential landing sites 001, 001(6), and 004. • 94 % of these PSRs can be accessed from the host crater rim on slopes below 15°. • An atlas compiles all traverses and descents to PSRs to support mission planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The illumination conditions of the lunar south pole region are complex due to the rugged terrain and very low solar elevation angles, posing significant challenges to the safety of lunar landing and rover explorations. High-spatial and temporal-resolution analyses of the illumination conditions in the south pole region are essential to support mission planning and surface operations. This paper proposes a method for illumination condition analysis in the lunar pole region using multi-temporal high-resolution orbital images with a pre-selected landing area of Chang'E-7 as the study area. Firstly, a database of historical multi-temporal high-resolution (0.69–1.97 m/pixel) orbital images, with associated image acquisition time, solar elevation angle, and azimuth angle, is established after preprocessing and registration. Secondly, images with the nearest solar elevation and azimuth at the planned time for mission operations are retrieved from the database for subsequent illumination condition analysis and exploration support. The differences in the actual solar positions at the mission moments from that of the nearest sun position image are calculated and their impact on illumination conditions is evaluated. Experimental results of the study area demonstrate that the constructed image database and the proposed illumination analysis method using multi-temporal images, with the assistance of DEM in a small number of cases, can effectively support the mission planning and operations for the Chang'E-7 mission in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mare Ingenii is a site of great interest for lunar geology as it is one of the few basaltic plains on the farside of the Moon. It is located within the outer edge of the South Pole‐Aitken basin, the largest and oldest impact basin in our Solar System. Mare Ingenii includes two large craters, Thomson and Thomson M, and a prominent swirl, a high‐albedo sinuous feature whose origin is still debated. We conducted spectral analysis on 28 selected regions of interest within Mare Ingenii, with the aim of inferring its mineralogy. We considered reflectance data acquired in the visible to near‐infrared spectral range by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) imaging spectrometer onboard the Chandrayaan‐1 mission, to derive a set of spectral parameters. Our results show wide compositional variability, with the dark material of the mare basaltic floor showing the centers of the Fe2+ absorption bands of the pyroxenes shifted toward long wavelengths (0.96–0.99 and 2.03–2.12 μm, respectively), consistent with the spectral characteristics of high‐Ca pyroxenes (as well as swirl material and intermediate albedo regions). In contrast, the bright material of the small surrounding craters shows Fe2+ absorption bands shifted toward short wavelengths (0.91–0.94 and 1.91–2.04 μm, respectively), more consistent with low‐Ca or Ca‐free pyroxenes. The obtained results suggest a mafic signature throughout the surface of Mare Ingenii, probably representative of the composition of the lower lunar crust. Plain Language Summary: Mare Ingenii is one of the few basaltic plains on the farside of the Moon within the South Pole‐Aitken basin, the oldest and largest impact basin in our Solar System. It includes two large craters, Thomson and Thomson M, and a swirl. We selected 28 regions of interest within Mare Ingenii and examined reflectance data acquired in the visible to near‐infrared spectral range by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) imaging spectrometer onboard the Chandrayaan‐1 mission, with the aim of studying its mineralogy using several spectral parameters. The dark basaltic plain material, swirl and intermediate reflectance regions, show absorption bands consistent with high‐calcium pyroxenes. In contrast, the bright material of the small surrounding craters shows spectral characteristics suggestive of low‐calcium or calcium‐free pyroxenes. The surface of Mare Ingenii is overall rich in iron and likely representative of the composition of the Moon's lower crust. Key Points: Mare Ingenii is one of the few basaltic maria occurring on the lunar farside, important target also for its pit and its swirl morphologyAnalysis of spectral parameters from Chandrayaan‐1/M3 data reveals a variability in the Ingenii basin, mostly dominated by pyroxenesMare Ingenii shows compositions likely representing mare deposits encompassed in a regional setting of the deeper lunar primordial crust [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The diurnal variation and distribution of lunar surficial hydration (OH/H2O) is of great significance for understanding the solar wind implantation and water cycle on the Moon. Lunar south pole is an ideal place to study the diurnal variation of surficial hydration due to the large number of repeat observations of the same region, which is very limited in mid‐ or low‐latitudes. Here we showed clear 0.5‐hr interval diurnal variation of surficial hydration at lunar south pole. The variation of hydration band depth with local time is exactly the opposite to the variation of temperature, indicating that lunar surficial hydration changes sufficiently with temperature. This relationship indicates that both the diurnal variation and hydration content are latitude dependent. Our observations support the hypothesis that the diurnal variation of hydration on the Moon is due to the formation of metastable hydroxyl.