Malapert Massif to Haworth, by rover

Artemis III candidate region: Malapert Massif to Artemis III candidate region: Haworth

50.5 km

about 7 h 39 min, Apollo rover, estimated

Details

Along the terrain route between the endpoints, searched at 400 m resolution.

Direct line: 50.2 km, about 7 h 42 min. Terrain route: 50.5 km, about 7 h 39 min.

Terrain resolution: about 400 m, the coarser LOLA polar terrain tier; the model does not include boulders or other surface hazards. How the routing works

Between the centres of two Artemis III candidate landing regions, Malapert Massif and Haworth, from the USGS navigational-grid data release (each endpoint is the centre of a region polygon, about 21 by 20 km and 30 by 35 km, not a landing point). The terrain route is a computed estimate on the 160 m LOLA tier for the Apollo rover's limits, avoiding slopes at that resolution only; nobody has driven here and no lander is committed to either region. NASA, Artemis III candidate landing regions (2024-10-28); McClernan (2024), Down Selected Artemis III Candidate Landing Site Navigational Grids, USGS data release, doi:10.5066/P1MEQ6UK

Travel time, estimated

Apollo rover:: About 7 h 39 min, estimatedterrain routeSource: NSSDCA, The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle; Apollo 15 Mission Report (MSC-05161, 1971); Apollo 17 Mission Report (JSC-07904, 1973)
On foot:: About 17 h 11 min, estimateddirect lineApollo crews never went farther than about 7.6 km from their lander (Apollo 17, Station 2 at Nansen): traverses were planned so the crew could walk back on the suits' remaining oxygen if the rover failed, and the Apollo 17 planning chart marks that distance as its contingency limit. This route does not enforce it. NSSDCA, The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle; Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal, Station 2 (walkback planning note)Source: Eppler et al., Lunar highland terrain walking EVA operations (LPSC 2025, abstract 2023)
VIPER:: About 6 d 17 h, estimateddirect line3.59 km of this route is steeper than 15 degrees and is not timed.Source: NASA, VIPER rover and instruments (science.nasa.gov, 2023)

Assumptions, Apollo rover:

The route was searched on the NASA LRO LOLA elevation model at 400 m resolution, the tier used for this route.
It avoids slopes steeper than 25 degrees at that resolution only: every slope is a mean over 400 m samples, so a steeper stretch inside one sample is not seen.
It does not account for craters, boulders, shadow, or anything smaller than 400 m across.
Travel time only, not a mission duration: continuous travel with no stops, rest, recharging, communication passes or lighting constraints.
Level-ground speed 8.29 km/h: total distance driven over total driving time on Apollo 15, 16 and 17 (27.8 km in 3 h 02 min, 26.7 km in 3 h 26 min, 35.9 km in 4 h 26 min).
Speed interpolated between the handbook's smooth-mare capability at 0, 5 and 10 degrees, the Apollo 17 report's 4 to 5 km/h at 20 degrees, and zero at 25 degrees, scaled so the flat speed is the typical traverse speed. The same reduction is applied downhill (descents were driven in braking mode), which is an assumption.
Segments steeper than 25 degrees are not timed: design slope; the steepest slopes actually reported were 18 degrees up and 20 degrees down (Apollo 17) and about 20 degrees (Apollo 16).

Elevation profile

Ascent: 1,633 m
Descent: 4,893 m
Max slope: 18.1°
Elevation: 498 to 4,813 m
Elevation data: LOLA, 400 m samples
In daylight: 0.00 of 50.2 km as of 07:33 UTC, computed when this page was served

Leaving now, you would be in night the whole way. Apollo rover, estimated; the departure is the time this page was served (2026-11-11 07:33 UTC), smooth horizon, no relief, travel time with no stops.

Elevation sampled every 400 m from the NASA LRO LOLA model, so local slopes are smoothed and the steep flags are optimistic. Heights are above the 1,737.4 km sphere. Daylight is the Sun above a smooth horizon, computed along the great circle. The map and the elevation chart load with JavaScript.

Crosses 2 cells

Waypoints, first 2 of 2

Cell, ACC at entry	km	Elev. m	Hdg	Leg km
AZSA ZS Z45 W22	0.00	4,813	230°	33.5
AYRA YR Z00 Z76	33.5	983	244°	17.1

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