Article Posted on : - Sep 20, 2010

The ESA's lunar lander mission aims to land in the mountainous and heavily cratered terrain of the lunar south pole, possibly in 2018. An ESA photo.

PARIS (BNS): An eighteen month-long study has begun in a significant step forward for ESA’s first mission to visit the south polar region of the moon.

ESA’s Director of Human Spaceflight Simonetta Di Pippo and Michael Menking of EADS-Astrium signed a further study contract in Berlin on Thursday, ESA said in its website.

The European Space Agency’s proposed precursor will probe the moonscape’s unknowns and test new technology to prepare for future human landings.

The mission aims to land in the mountainous and heavily cratered terrain of the lunar South Pole by 2018.

According to ESA, the region is a prime location for future human explorers because it offers almost continuous sunlight for power and potential access to vital resources such as water-ice.

However, the target area is poorly understood and only now we are beginning to receive the information needed to consider landing and operating a mission there, ESA said.

The start of the ‘Phase-B1’ study is important as the mission’s design will now be continued under the leadership of EADS-Astrium Bremen and some of the key technologies will be developed and tested for the first time.

First, the most recent topographic data covering the Moon’s South Pole will be analysed in detail to find the promising landing sites.

The space agency then plans to design the robotic lander down to the level of its various subsystems, such as propulsion and navigation. A Preliminary System Requirements Review will be held in 2012 for the final design of the mission and lander, it said.

"The concept of the new study is based on the technologies of ATV and this unique expertise will enable us to develop the key technologies; it would not be possible to envisage landing a robotic vehicle on the Moon without them," Dr Menking, Astrium’s Senior Vice President Orbital Systems and Space Exploration was quoted as saying.