Selection of Luna-25 landing sites in the South Polar Region of the Moon

Abstract

The paper presents a brief description of the spatial analysis method developed at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the landing site selection on the Moon’s surface for the Luna-25 lander. Preconditions for the selection of the South Polar Region of the Moon as the main exploration area using automatic spacecraft are considered. The main characteristics of the Luna-25 lander and the main factors influencing the landing site selection on the Moon’s surface are listed. The data used are described. Eleven landing site candidates obtained by the method are proposed and prioritized. Detailed characteristics are given for the three optimal sites.