Shackleton Crater

Artist Jorge Mañes Rubio, part of ESA’s future-oriented Advanced Concepts Team (ACT), has designed a place of contemplation to serve a future lunar settlement. It would be built on the sunlit rim of 21-km diameter Shackleton Crater, which is bathed much of the time in sunlight while overlooking a 4.2 km-deep interior mired in perpetual shadow. The Moon Temple is visible here as a small bright dot on the left of the image. An app allowing people to virtually experience the Shackleton Crater environment for themselves is being finalised, meanwhile an animation is already available.