NASA’s Artemis III mission, currently scheduled for September 2026, will return astronauts to the Moon. Far from Neil Armstrong’s first boot impression near the equator in 1969, Artemis III will send astronauts to the lunar south pole, hardly an easy feat. 

The Joint Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) and Human Surface Mobility Test Team (JETT) understands the assignment.  NASA says that  JETT “is a specialized group that develops, integrates, and executes human-in-the-loop tests and analog missions.” This was the fifth JETT exercise, known as JETT5.

JETT5 conducted mission simulations for Artemis III from May 13 to 17, 2024.  The crew was working in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in northern Arizona, about 45 minutes north of Flagstaff, while the science team was communicating with them from the Science Evaluation Room (SER) in Houston, Texas, ~1,200 miles away. When astronauts explore the lunar south pole, they will be more than 200,000 miles from home. 

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MAPS

Maps have been the specialty of USGS for decades. Here, USGS and other JETT5 science team members have prepared the crew and SER with maps to guide the development of science objectives and traverse plans.

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The JETT5 science team created maps of primary and backup landing sites in the SP region. The San Francisco Volcanic Field was chosen for these activities for its lunar-like terrain, which is known as an analog field site. These maps were used in the Science Evaluation Room (SER), in Houston, during the training exercise and by the astronauts in the field. Historically, USGS have created detailed maps that aid our understanding and study of planetary bodies, including Earth.

JETT5 in action: 

Dr. Lauren Edgar of USGS Astrogeology Science Center is a research geologist and co-lead of the JETT5 science team and Deputy Principal Investigator of the Artemis III Geology Team. "JETT5 was the highest fidelity Artemis EVA mission simulation ever conducted,” Dr. Edgar said of the recent exercises in northern Arizona.  "JETT5 will help prepare for Artemis lunar exploration by refining how science will be integrated into flight operations, and testing aspects of the hardware, software, communications, and navigation that will be involved in lunar EVAs.” 

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The JETT5 tests included a variety of scenarios in which the crew was in and out of communication, with or without the video feed reaching Houston, and testing the real-time return of images. The latter case allowed scientists in the SER to observe what the astronauts see and help them make geology interpretations during the extravehicular activity (EVA).   

This science-fiction-like landscape, the south pole, will be dark, with long, deep shadows cast by mountains and even small boulders, and contain deep craters and rocky terrains. According to NASA, some deep craters are permanently shadowed, where temperatures can be a bone chilling -334°F (-203°C) and thought to hide water ice in areas where sunlight cannot reach. In the sunlit areas, temperatures can be around 130°F (54°C). With no atmosphere on the Moon, the lunar sky will look black to the astronauts, and they will see the Sun only along the horizon. Earth will rise and fall on the horizon over long periods of time, but never more than a few degrees above or below it.  

Testing these challenging lighting conditions

Another part of the testing operations included the crew working under difficult lighting conditions that would be expected in the lunar south pole. 

James A. Skinner, USGS Astrogeology geologist and mapping supervisor said, “In order to simulate the challenging lighting conditions expected at the lunar South Pole, some of the JETT EVAs were planned to occur at night with a portable spotlight acting as the Sun, to simulate what it would be like to have the Sun low on the horizon.” 

To get an idea of changing illumination, take a look at the shadows of Mons Mouton, the tallest mountain near the south pole. The caption describes the camera as slowly flying toward the mountain as the lighting changes dramatically to reveal the terrain. Absolutely intriguing! 

Reasons to visit the lunar south pole

While on the lunar surface, it is hoped that the astronauts’ work will answer some of NASA’s most pressing questions, and for the astronauts to bring back geologic samples that could possibly explain more about the history of our world.  The lunar south pole is actually a giant impact basin, with some of the thinnest crust on the Moon and could be home to rocks that represent the lunar interior. Samples brought back from this region could answer questions about solar system formation, the formation of the Earth and Moon, and about the evolution of our nearest neighbor.

Among more of those questions scientists are asking are: Is there water on the Moon? If so, where? Is water found in the dark shadowed craters that never see sunlight? Is water found in the pulverized soil layer of the Moon called regolith? Is there enough of it to harvest for resources, to make drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel?  It would be a lot easier to establish a human base on the Moon, as NASA and commercial partners plan, if the materials are already there rather than haul them from Earth. Find out more about why we’re looking into water on the Moon in our resources circular here: Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022 | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov).

Astronauts are not going to the Moon alone. We are going with them, in whichever manner that we can!