LUNAR FLIGHT OPERATIONS · FOC-7C
LOW LUNAR ORBIT · 96 × 108 KM · INC 89.7° · SOUTH-POLE SURVEY PASS 3 OF 5
FLIGHT PLAN REV F · SHACKLETON RIM SITE A · ALL TIMES MET
4 SOULS ON BOARD · SURGEON CONSOLE GREEN · SLEEP SHIFT B ENDS 15:00 GMT
SPACE-TO-GROUND 1 · DSN CANBERRA DSS-43 · SIGNAL DELAY 1.28 S EACH WAY
FOR CONSOLE CERTIFICATION · CONTROLLED DISTRIBUTION · REV 12
Artemis-9 is the third crew-tended survey of the lunar south pole and the first to commit a lander to the rim of Shackleton crater itself. For six days the stack has flown a near-polar orbit, mapping permanently shadowed terrain with a dual-band lidar while the surface team rehearses powered descent. The objective is blunt: certify Site A for a permanent habitat before the winter beta-angle window closes.
The stack pairs the crew module Meridian with the lunar surface access module Talon, docked nose-to-nose since trans-lunar coast. Meridian carries the long-pole consumables — 21 days of oxygen, two full battery buses, and the high-gain antenna this console is talking through. Talon is the sharp end: a single-stage methalox lander rated for 9.2 tonnes down and 4.1 back up.
Shackleton Rim Site A sits on a ridge that sees sunlight 91% of the lunar year, four kilometres from ice-bearing shadow. It is the best real estate on the Moon and the least forgiving: −173 °C in the dark, slopes to 15°, and a landing corridor only 240 metres wide. Pass 3, in progress above you now, is the final lidar sweep of that corridor before FLIGHT gives the GO for powered descent.