A NASA astronaut is warning against a lunar south pole landing currently being entertained by the organization.
Victor Glover, the pilot of the Artemis II mission, said last month, “If you want to go fast, go familiar. We want to get to the surface. If we want to land soon, familiar, daylight, equator.”
Discussing hypotheticals of such an endeavor, Glover described a “what-if” scenario if an astronaut developed appendicitis during the mission. “If it ruptures on landing day, you’re stuck for a week. That’s a big deal to me, and I don’t like that plan,” he said. “The equator gives me opportunity to save that person.”
“You think driving home into the sunset is challenging? Imagine being on another celestial body and going from this room to low sun angle in a suit,” he added.
A 2022 Architecture Concept Review detailed the lunar south pole endeavor. “Access to these ices will yield scientific knowledge about the role of volatile processes across the inner solar system throughout Earth’s history that cannot be gained elsewhere, which is critical knowledge for understanding life in general,” the paper read. “Furthermore, these ices might yield resources that enable future astronauts to live off the land and put NASA on a path towards sustainable exploration.”
Meanwhile, NASA has announced plans to construct a permanent base on the moon. The agency’s plan involves three phases: sending rovers to test and learn different activities, establish “semi-habitable infrastructure,” and develop “cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS)” that will allow for heavier infrastructure needed for a human presence on the moon.
