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Lunar south pole

Files

Click here to download the trajectory.
Click here to download the run options file.

Description

NASA is considering locations near the lunar south pole as a landing site for Artemis and Moon Base missions.  The Artemis Exploration Zone includes potential sites with lunar latitudes between 86°S and 90°S; we have selected a location at 89°S for our MEM run.  This location moves with the lunar surface, so that the "ram" direction corresponds with lunar east.

The Moon's equator is tilted by only 1.53° relative to the ecliptic plane.  As a result, our selected site remains near the "bottom" of the Moon in ecliptic coordinates (see below).  The ram (east), wake (west), port (south), and starboard (north) directions all have similar exposure to the meteoroid environment.  Meteoroids cannot reach the nadir-facing surface.

Spacecraft near the lunar surface may also encounter dust particles originating from the Moon, but these exosphere/ejecta particles are not modeled in MEM.

Graphics

Trajectory in inertial frame

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Trajectory in Sun-centered ecliptic frame

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Meteoroid flux and properties

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Meteoroid directionality in body-fixed frame

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