Navigating the lunar frontier: one hundred landing sites at the south pole for future mission challenges.

Abstract

Despite humanity's many lunar missions to the equatorial and mid-latitude regions, the south pole remains uncharted because of its exceptionally harsh conditions. The quest for water ice and the drive to establish lunar bases have positioned the south pole area above 80° latitude, characterized by permanently shaded regions and conducive to water ice preservation. However, the daunting terrain and intricate illumination in this area present significant challenges to engineering safety. Here, we introduce a Landing Feasibility Probability (LFP) model to evaluate the viability of potential landing sites. We pinpoint 120 prospective landing sites, stratified into 25 high-priority, 64 medium-priority, and 31 low-priority sites. These sites, encompassing a mere 0.6 % of the lunar south pole, have been rigorously vetted against 10 critical factors for landing feasibility. These sites show a pronounced clustering around 8 major craters and plateaus, organizing into 7 lunar site networks, with each network comprising 4 sites with a maximum dimension under 25 km, ideal for the development of lunar bases and observational networks. The LFP model's selection process is derived from a heuristic Genetic Algorithm (GA) informed by expert experience. The landing sites are strategically positioned to address the dual challenges of scientific goals and engineering safety at the lunar south pole, while also providing site selection guidance and facilitating international collaboration and communication for lunar expeditions. This method can also be adapted for site selection on other celestial bodies (e.g. Mars and asteroids) for scientific exploration and construction of extraterrestrial bases.