Lacus Mortis

Lacus Mortis /ˈleɪkəs ˈmɔːrtɪs/ (Latin mortis, "Lake of Death") is a plain of basaltic lava flows in the northeastern part of the Moon. It lies just to the south of the elongated Mare Frigoris, being separated by a slender arm of rugged ground. To the south is the Lacus Somniorum, separated from this mare by the joined craters Plana and Mason, and a strip of uneven surface.

Lacus Mortis
Clementine mosaic
Coordinates45.0°N 27.2°E / 45.0; 27.2
Diameter151 km
EponymLake of Death

Located prominently just to the east of the midpoint of this feature is the crater Bürg. The western part of the Lacus Mortis contains an extensive system of criss-crossing rilles collectively designated Rimae Bürg. The rilles are suspected to have formed from lava tubes.[1]

The selenographic coordinates of the Lacus Mortis are 45.0° N, 27.2° E, and it has a diameter of 151 km (94 mi).

Image of Lacus Mortis featuring rilles (narrow depressions collectively called Rimae Bürg) thought to represent lava tubes beneath the surface.

In March 2014 Astrobotic Technology announced Lacus Mortis will be the target destination for its first Moon mission as part of the Google Lunar X Prize competition.[2] Although the competition ended without a winner, Astrobotic became a NASA contractor and won a contract to land several commercial and NASA payloads at Lacus Mortis in 2021.[3][4][5] The plan is to land their Peregrine lander next to a pit located in the Lacus Mortis plain, then circumnavigate the pit with a rover, while a micro-rover called Asagumo (developed by Spacebit) enters the pit,[6][7] that is thought to offer access to the lava tubes suspected to exist below the surface.[1][8][9]

See also
  • Dead Lake (disambiguation), Earth.

References
  1. "3D Modeling of Lacus Mortis Pit Crater with Presumed Interior Tube Structure." Journal of Astronomy and Space Science 32(2); Pages: 113-120; June 2015.  doi:10.5140/JASS.2015.32.2.113
  2. Astrobotic (2014-03-03). "Lunar Destination: Lacus Mortis". Astrobotic Technology Inc. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-28.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  3. "NASA Announces New Partnerships for Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Services" (Press release). NASA. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  4. "NASA Selects First Commercial Moon Landing Services for Artemis" (Press release). NASA. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  5. Berger, Eric (31 May 2019). "NASA picks three companies to attempt Moon landings in 2020 and 2021". Ars Technica. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  6. Britain's first moon rover is a four-legged robot that will explore lunar tunnels. Ryan Browne, CNBC. 10 October 2019.
  7. SpaceBit moon rover set to land on lunar surface in 2021. Sky News. 10 October 2019.
  8. Lacus Mortis pit. Ik-Seon Hong, Yu Yi, Jaehyung Yu, Junichi Haruyama. June 2015.
  9. 3D Printed structure of Lacus Mortis pit crater with assumption of a cave underneath. Ik-Seon Hong, Eunjin Cho, Yu Yi, Jaehyung Yu, Junichi Haruyama. 2nd International Planetary Caves Conference (2015).
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