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Community => Recreation Commons => Destination: Alpha Centauri => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on November 11, 2025, 06:46:20 pm

Title: UTEP professor maps moon’s South Pole for Artemis III mission
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 11, 2025, 06:46:20 pm

KTSM (https://www.ktsm.com/)
UTEP professor maps moon’s South Pole for Artemis III mission
Dave Burge
Mon, November 10, 2025 at 7:59 PM EST
2 min read


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UTEP professor maps moon’s South Pole for Artemis III mission


EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A UTEP professor is part of the Artemis III team, as NASA plans to land two astronauts on the South Pole of the moon for the first time in history in 2027.

The expected weeklong mission aims to further lunar exploration and scientific discovery.

Howerver, high-quality, modern maps of the Lunar South Pole currently don’t exist.

That’s where a UTEP professor comes in.

Jose Hurtado, Ph.D., a UTEP professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences, will be part of a team of experts from across the U.S. who will be mapping this portion of the moon, as part of what is called the new Lunar Mapping Program (LMAP).

The project is supported by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

“Making geologic maps is a critical step in answering scientific questions about the moon, as well as preparing for the logistics of lunar exploration and planning the activities that astronauts will conduct on its surface,” said Hurtado.

Hurtado said that the South Pole is of particular interest to the scientific community because of its potential to answer questions about the moon’s origin, water resources and how the surface of planets evolve over time.

“The water is of interest not just scientifically but also operationally as it is a potential critical resource to enable sustainable development exploration and habitation of the moon,” said Hurtado.

Using state-of-the-art data collected by spacecraft like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, artificial intelligence and cutting-edge GIS software, the LMAP team aims to create a new, innovative and accurate map that can help astronauts carry out forthcoming moon missions, named Artemis.


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Jose Hurtado is on the team for Artemis II and III as NASA preps for the first human landing on the moon in 50 years.


“The LMAP approach can be directly applied to making the maps used for planning and executing Artemis lunar exploration with humans and robots,” said Hurtado.

In addition to LMAP, Hurtado is a member of NASA’s Artemis II and III Science Teams.

Scheduled for launch in early 2026, Artemis II will send a crew of astronauts around the moon. Hurtado is assisting with mission simulations at the NASA Johnson Space Center between now and the launch.

During the mission itself, Hurtado will work in NASA’s Science Evaluation Room and help provide real-time communications and feedback to astronauts, which can maximize scientific return during the short mission.

Hurtado will have similar roles in the Artemis III mission, which will be the first human lunar landing in over 50 years. He will also help design the surface mission and science mission objectives and activities.

The LMAP project is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/utep-professor-involvement-nasa-artemis-005950415.html