Before this decade is out, NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo Era and build the necessary infrastructure to keep sending them back. And they will hardly be alone. Alongside NASA's Artemis Program, the European Space Agency also plans to send astronauts to the moon and establish a permanent habitat there (the Moon Village), while China and Russia are working toward creating the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Numerous commercial space companies will also be there to provide crew transportation, cargo, and logistical services.

All of this will happen in the moon's southern polar region, a topographically complex region characterized by craters, permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), and undulating slopes. This terrain could prove difficult for crews conducting extravehicular activities (EVAs) away from landing sites and habitats.

In a recent study, an international team of researchers used data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to create a detailed atlas of the region that accounts for all the traverses and descents.

Lidar technology improvements will help NASA scientists and explorers with remote sensing and surveying, mapping, 3D-image scanning, hazard detection and avoidance, and navigation.

Like a sonar using light instead of sound, lidar technology increasingly helps NASA scientists and explorers with remote sensing and surveying, mapping, 3D-image scanning, hazard detection and avoidance, and navigation.

Cutting edge innovations by NASA researchers seek to refine lidars into smaller, lighter, more versatile tools for exploration.

Yesterday, a team of CNES, ESA, Arianespace and ArianeGroup personnel at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, completed a full-scale wet rehearsal of the new Ariane 6 rocket that was fueled and then drained of its fuel. The test lasted over 30 hours with three teams working in shifts of 10 hours each.

The goal was to increase the robustness of the launch system and to test emergency safety procedures with an interruption of the countdown from simulated anomalies.

The wet rehearsal—called combined test loading, abbreviated to CTLO2.1—is the third time the Ariane 6 ground teams have practiced a full launch countdown, after a first rehearsal on 18 July and a first ignition of the main engine on 5 September. Yesterday's test concentrated on system robustness and how well Ariane 6 and the teams handle situations at the edge of the operational parameters.

This time, the operations were performed at night to test operations in cooler ambient temperatures, while the July and September tests were run in daylight.