As NASA is preparing for its first crewed Moon landing in more than five decades, the agency has narrowed down its landing regions for the Artemis III mission. The mission hopes to mark humanity’s return to the lunar surface, with the launch being no earlier than September 2026. Now, NASA is one step closer to the logistics as they focus on where the astronauts will land. This was done by NASA’s Cross Agency Site Selection Analysis team who worked closely with science and industry partners to add and exclude potential landing regions while assessing the areas for their science value and mission availability. The refined list includes: Peak near Caebus B, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Mons Mouton Plateau, Mons Mouton, Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2, de Gerlache Rim 2, and Slater Plain. The regions have been chosen as they “contain diverse geological characteristics and offer flexibility for mission availability,” explained the agency in a press release. “The Moon’s South Pole is a completely different environment than where we landed during the Apollo missions,” said Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It offers access to some of the Moon’s oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds.