USING LEAST COST PATH ANALYSIS TO PLAN ARTEMIS TRAVERSES, DE GERLACHE CRATER RIM, LUNAR SOUTH POLE

The Artemis 3 (A3) lunar landing mission, the first crewed Moon landing in over 50 years, will require careful planning and preparation. One of the most important aspects of the mission is the development of surface exploration maps. To generate a traversability map product, we performed a least cost path analysis over geologic sample locations within two de Gerlache rim candidate landing regions. The resulting products of a least cost path analysis can be used to help astronauts navigate the lunar surface and to identify potential hazards during extravehicular activities (EVAs).

To perform a least cost path analysis, we created a workflow in Arc GIS Pro and used the Optimal Regions Connections (ORC) tool to determine the most efficient routes from one point to another, taking into account factors such as terrain, obstacles, and cost. The ORC tool also incorporated lunar traversability factors to calculate the cost of traversing a particular route and generated routes that avoided lunar hazards, such as slopes greater than 20 degrees and terrain obstacles (craters, scarps, troughs, and permanently shadowed regions). By using ORC for least cost path analysis, we generated sample EVA routes for the entire sample dataset and reviewed them for accuracy.

Least cost path analysis and other automated approaches to generating surface exploration maps will allow A3 mission control to select field stations that maximize science and minimize risk. These maps will also help pave the way for future missions to the moon, including those that will focus on resource extraction and scientific research. The combination of spatial data, specialized maps, and new standard operating procedures will allow scientists and astronauts to plan and execute missions more safely and efficiently, thereby contributing to the success of NASA's lunar exploration objectives.