Is this where China’s astronauts will land on the moon?

March 10, 2026 5 min read Add Us On Google Add SciAm Is this where China’s astronauts will land on the moon? An obscure lunar region called Rimae Bode is emerging as a high-priority landing site for China’s first crewed moon mission By Lee Billings edited by Claire Cameron A speculative artist’s concept shows two Chinese astronauts planting the nation’s flag on the surface of the moon. 3DSculptor/Getty Images In the two-way race between the U.S. and China to put humans back on the moon, the lunar south pole is widely considered the most prized place to land. The area is relatively resource-rich, pocked with dark craters that harbor water ice and have near constant exposure to sunlight around their respective rims—both desirable features for lunar bases. The South Pole–Aitken Basin—the moon’s largest and oldest impact structure—dominates the region. Situated on the moon’s far side, it is shielded from Earth’s radio chatter, making it an ideal site for ultrasensitive astronomy observations . But this promise comes with considerable peril: compared with other landing sites, the south polar region is harder to reach, and its craters are more treacherous. And without a moon-orbiting relay , the far side is cut off from communicating with Earth. Still, the U.S. has selected nine candidate sites there for a landing attempt set for 2028 as part of NASA’s Artemis program . But a new paper published yesterday in Nature Astronomy strengthens the case that China is pursuing an easier initial crewed landing site that closer to the equator and on the moon’s near side, with a plan to put boots on the surface by 2030. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Using data from U.S., Chinese, Indian and Japanese lunar missions, as well as archival observations from the ground-based Arecibo radio telescope, the authors argue that Rimae Bode—a relatively flat region north of the equator on the moon’s Earth-facing side—is a top locale for China’s first moonwalking astronauts. “Rimae Bode is a high-priority ‘sweet spot,’” says Jun Huang, a planetary geologist at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan and co-lead author of the new study. “Think of it as a prime piece of lunar real estate: its location near the equator provides much flatter, safer terrain for landing, along with constant sunlight for power [during the lunar day] and a direct line of sight to Earth for easy communication.” Jim Head, an emeritus professor at Brown University, who helped select landing sites for NASA’s Apollo moon missions and trained astronauts for geology fieldwork, agrees the region is a top candidate. He regularly collaborates with Chinese scientists who are developing that nation’s lunar exploration program but was not part of this study. “Rimae Bode would be on my ‘lunar human exploration landing site short list,’” Head says, adding that the region was considered as an Apollo mission destination. “More than 50 years after Apollo, the importance of the multiple compelling scientific objectives at Rimae Bode remain!” Rimae Bode is located between Mare Vaporum—a basin filled with dark, cooled lava—and the lighter-colored, older and more rugged central lunar highlands. “Scientifically, it’s like a geological ‘all-you-can-eat buffet’ that the south pole can’t provide,” Huang says. He and his team identify five features of interest: a large, dark layer of glassy volcanic ash; a basalt plain called Sinus Aestuum; two basaltic terrains of Rimae Bode proper—one of which is laced with volcanic trenches called rills—and, finally, the surrounding highlands. The paper sketches out the region’s complex geology: the authors analyze its mineralogy and topography, as well as the distribution of craters across the landscape. The ash layer, for instance, probably erupted billions of years ago from the moon’s mantle, offering a unique window into lunar history. Tiny glass beads in the ash are Rimae Bode’s “crown jewels,” Huang says—these “time capsules” could help reveal the moon’s mysterious interior. “By studying them, we can finally understand what the moon is actually made of, deep inside, and piece together the complete story of how its volcanic activity evolved over time, transforming the moon from a fiery, active world into the quiet neighbor we see today,” he says. Orbital observations suggest that the ash may also “contain significant water resources,” says Clive Neal, a planetary scientist at the