Where are the Russians, Indians and Artemis planning to land "near the south pole" of the moon?

[Unclear Engineer]

I note in the story carried on a competing website that

"The targeted landing site [of the Russian Luna 25] is near the Boguslawsky crater at approximately 70 degrees south latitude in the south polar region of the moon."

That does not seem like "near the south pole" to me. Is that lunar latitude correct for that crater? If so, is that close enough to the pole to expect water ice in shadowed areas that never see sunlight?

I got the impression that the Artemis landing areas would be much closer to the pole. There have been articles about how being at the pole could provide constant sunlight for solar cells, etc. instead of 2 weeks of darkness per month.

So, how do the landing sites for the Russian, Indian and Artemis projects compare?

 

[Unclear Engineer]

OK, Googling Boguslawsky crater gets me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boguslawsky_(crater) .

That says that the crater ranges in latitude from 70.4 to 74.4 degrees. So, the article did not typo "70" instead of something closer to 90 degrees.

My other questions remain to be answered.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Wel, now that Luna 25 has crashed, the questions are still relevant for the Indian lander and Artemis.

 

[COLGeek]

Chandrayaan-3 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Possible Artemis 3 moon landing site spied by NASA spacecraft (photos)

Malapert Massif would be a dramatic setting for a moonwalk.

www.space.com

 

[Unclear Engineer]

OK, I see that Artemis is interested in Malapert Crater Massif as a landing area. Its rim includes Malapert Mountain, which is potentially useful:

"The southwestern part of the rim forms part of a 5-km-high rise in the surface that has been unofficially designated Malapert Mountain. This ridge appears wider along a line running roughly east–west, although details of the back side are hidden by shadows. The peak of this ridge lies almost exactly along 0° longitude, and it has the unusual attribute of lying within sight of both the Earth and the crater Shackleton at the south pole."

The Malapert Crater lies between latitudes 78.8 and 84.3. The Shackleton Crater lies on the actual Lunar south pole.

"The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles shed during comet impacts on the Moon. Measurements by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft showed higher than normal amounts of hydrogen within the crater, which may indicate the presence of water ice. "

These sites are much closer to the lunar south pole than the Russian target area, and are along the lines of what I was expecting from the Russian and Indian landers.

Not sure why COLGeek included that link to the Indian program, since it did not contain the info to address my questions about landing target area or the potential for continuously shadowed areas and frozen water.

 

[COLGeek]

OK, I see that Artemis is interested in Malapert Crater Massif as a landing area. Its rim includes Malapert Mountain, which is potentially useful:

"The southwestern part of the rim forms part of a 5-km-high rise in the surface that has been unofficially designated Malapert Mountain. This ridge appears wider along a line running roughly east–west, although details of the back side are hidden by shadows. The peak of this ridge lies almost exactly along 0° longitude, and it has the unusual attribute of lying within sight of both the Earth and the crater Shackleton at the south pole."

The Malapert Crater lies between latitudes 78.8 and 84.3. The Shackleton Crater lies on the actual Lunar south pole.

"The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles shed during comet impacts on the Moon. Measurements by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft showed higher than normal amounts of hydrogen within the crater, which may indicate the presence of water ice. "

These sites are much closer to the lunar south pole than the Russian target area, and are along the lines of what I was expecting from the Russian and Indian landers.

Not sure why COLGeek included that link to the Indian program, since it did not contain the info to address my questions about landing target area or the potential for continuously shadowed areas and frozen water.

Investigating sources in wiki can lead to answers: Landing site : 69.367621 S, 32.348126 E

https://www.isro.gov.in/media_isro/pdf/Missions/LVM3/LVM3M4_Chandrayaan3_brochure.pdf

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Thanks COLGeek.

I could have tracked it down myself, but I was hoping somebody else had already done the work. Sticking the target site at the bottom of the graphic for "Major Specifications of the Lander", without any discussion of what the surface is like there, seems to be exceptionally coy for an article about landing on the Moon to see if there is water in perpetual shadows.

Anyway, the Indian probe target latitude is only 69.4 degrees, so even a little less "south" than the Russian's target. I am wondering why Russia and India are looking substantially farther north than the Artemis project. Easier, maybe? Picking an exact set-down point with the sunlight at a very low angle must be non-trivial.

I would expect that one of the first tasks for establishing a "base" on the Moon will be to put in some sort of radio beacon system to guide future incoming craft to a good landing place, maybe even one that has some preparation.

And, I wonder about the effects of repeated lift-offs in the vicinity of installed scientific instruments and any sort of habitat. Stirring up the dust would probably make a real mess in the immediate vicinity. Yes, there is no air for the dust to be suspended to float very far - a grain of dust should behave about the same as a rock thrown up by the rocket exhaust. But, I remember some discussions about electrostatic suspension of lunar dust by solar radiation and how that makes a dust current across the sunlight terminator, so I am wondering how the dust is really going to behave on a lunar "spaceport".