NASA Eyes South Pole Landing Despite Astronaut’s Warning

A NASA astronaut cautioned that landing at the lunar south pole could leave an appendicitis-ridden crew member stranded there.

Victor Glover, who piloted the Artemis II mission around the moon in April 2026, expressed his concerns about future moon landing missions while speaking at the NASA Exploration Science Forum at Ames Research Center on July 21. Glover argued NASA should instead set its sights on the Moon’s equator because of the safety and operational risks of heading straight to the south pole, he said at the forum.

NASA prefers the lunar south pole due to its unique, permanently shadowed craters, which are likely to contain ice that could sustain future missions, according to a NASA white paper. Nearby sunlit regions would keep solar hardware constantly powered, and the ancient south pole surface could offer more insights into our solar system’s history.

“If you want to go fast, go familiar. We want to get to the surface. If we want to land soon, familiar, daylight, equator,” Glover said during the forum.

Glover then explained what would happen if an astronaut developed appendicitis during a hypothetical south pole landing mission.

“If ruptures on landing day, you’re stuck for a week. That’s a big deal to me, and I don’t like that plan,” he said. “The equator gives me opportunity to save that person.”

Glover noted his view is not part of NASA’s formal planning. “That’s just me, and nobody’s asking me those questions,” he told the forum audience.

China is racing to put its first astronauts on the lunar surface before the end of the decade,