Shackleton

And the story I have here for Wes and I to discuss is a story on how China is on track to launch a Mars sample return mission in 2028, which is a mere two years away.

But before I jump into that story, I want to also say that if you're a fan of Artemis and you're a fan of NASA and its efforts to return to the moon, remember that the place that we want to go is a crater on the very south pole of the moon called the Shackleton Crater.

Why do we want to go there? Because inside of that we've recognized several pieces of evidence that lead us to believe that there are water resources embedded in that crater and once on the moon water can help you make well water so you can drink it but what water ice can also lead to things like fuel and breathing air and other things that are very important for colonists on a world that does not necessarily have an atmosphere or liquid water so it's important to understand that China has a mission called the Chang'e 7, and the Chang'e 7 mission is going to that same crater.

And you might think, well, you know, the moon's a big place.

You know, we can all just explore in peace and share resources on the moon, and there's plenty to go around.

No, no, not at the South Pole.

There's only one big crater called the Shackleton Crater that has water resources identified in it.

And that's where we're going with Artemis IV.

Geography is everything here.

They are targeting a very specific location called Shackleton Crater right at the lunar south pole.

Now, anyone who knows basic lunar geography knows this.

Yeah.

You really couldn't pick a more punishing environment if you tried.

Right.

Shackleton Crater is a place defined by absolute jagged extremes.

Right.

The Sun never rises high above the horizon.

Elevated ridgelines near craters like Shackleton receive near continuous illumination for much of the lunar year.

Which is why NASA chose the South Pole in the first place.

But even the best South Pole sites experience periodic shadow.

Zaxby's.

The South Pole location helps in specific ways and NASA chose it for good reasons.

Crater rims near Shackleton and other polar formations sit at elevations where sunlight grazes the surface almost continuously during much of the lunar year.

This near-constant illumination provides the best solar power conditions available anywhere on the Moon and keeps surface temperatures more moderate than equatorial sites.

This is not only sustainment for humans, but this is also fuel, right? And so exactly like you're saying, if we want to launch from the moon, if we want to refuel vehicles that land there, if we want to sustain humans, you need to have that real estate.

And you need to land near Shackleton Crater or something like this on the South Pole and get that water ice.

So prospecting vehicles, not only for things that are fuels like helium three, because nuclear is going to be needed as cheap as solar is getting mass to the moon right now is massively expensive.

So the more energy dense that you can have any sort of infrastructure, the better.

[Instrumental music] Beijing has scrubbed for now its Chang'e seven mission to the Moon, citing a failure to meet strict launch conditions.

The flight aboard a Long March seven rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on China's southern Hainan Island will search for water ice in the permanently shadowed areas of Shackleton Crater near the lunar south pole.

Beijing refused to go into details about why the delay is taking place, so we're left with speculation, and most of that's focusing on the high winds and bad weather in the wake of Typhoon Nara pushing the launch beyond the window needed to achieve the correct alignment in order to meet the narrow lighting and shadowing constraints of the landing site.

Of course, there's also the possibility of technical issues with the spacecraft, something Beijing wouldn't want to admit for fear of losing face.

The Sun never rises high above the horizon.

Elevated ridgelines near craters like Shackleton receive near-continuous illumination for much of the lunar year.

which is why NASA chose the South Pole in the first place.

But even the best South Pole sites experience periodic shadow.

So sign up now at chumbacasino.com. That's chumbacasino.com. No problem.

The South Pole location helps in specific ways and NASA chose it for good reasons.

Crater rims near Shackleton and other polar formations sit at elevations where sunlight grazes the surface almost continuously during much of the lunar year.

This near-constant illumination provides the best solar power conditions available anywhere on the Moon and keeps surface temperatures more moderate than equatorial sites.

But the picture's gotten murkier since, not clearer.

Chang'e 7 targets the rim of Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole, and that landing site only gets the right sunlight geometry for something like 100 days total across an entire year split into short windows.

China's own state broadcaster, CGTN, ran an explainer on exactly this point.

So it's not as simple as wait a month, then try again.

So they're most likely, we don't know exactly where they're planning to go.

They're most likely going to the Shackleton Crater near the, uh, lunar south pole, looking for water, for water ice.

And I mean, that would be a- amazing that, that it's on the moon, but it would also be incredibly useful if you wanna live on the moon to have a source of water.

What has changed then? What have they actually said officially has changed?

So as a result, there's a real suppression of, of kind of information or, or any sharing with the Chinese a- and that works both ways, of course.

But you could end up, we, we could potentially end up, as we are at the moment with these two space stations in orbit, two nations just not cooperating in space.

We could end up with the same situation on the moon, where you have the Shackleton Crater near the South Pole, and, and you essentially have a base on either side of it.

You know, [laughs] you could have a Chinese base, an American base, and they do not talk to each other.