The Nassau F Crater Region within the South Pole–Aitken Basin: Geological Context for the Rashid-2 Rover Landing Site

The Rashid-2 mission of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) is scheduled for launch at the end of 2026 as part of the Firefly Blue Ghost 2 payload. Equipped with three optical cameras, a thermal camera, four Langmuir probes, and a material adhesion / abrasion determination experiment, this ~10 kg rover is similar to the Rashid-1 mission (e.g., Flahaut et al., 2024). Rashid-2 aims to investigate the properties of the lunar regolith, plasma interactions at the lunar surface, and, more broadly, to improve our understanding of the Moon’s formation and evolution.

This study focuses on the geological mapping of the Rashid-2 landing region, located on the northeastern rim of Nassau F crater (177.7° W; 23.82° S). Remote sensing data from the Clementine, Lunar Prospector, LRO (LOLA, WAC, Diviner, Mini-RF), and Kaguya (TC and MI) missions were processed and integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS), complemented by mineralogical information derived from Chandrayaan-1 M³ spectral imager data.

Our analysis shows that the landing ellipse is located near the boundary between the interior of the basin and its outer rim, also referred to as the heterogeneous annulus of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. These regions are characterized by distinct lithologies. The landing site is situated on a ridge likely composed of superimposed ejecta from Nassau F (dated at ~4.2 Ga), Orlov Y, Nassau D, and Orlov (dated at ~3.8 Ga), as well as secondary craters potentially originating from the Orientale basin-forming impact (~3.8 Ga).

M³ spectra are relatively featureless or indicative of weak pyroxene signatures, consistent with mature and mixed highland material. Kaguya-derived mineral maps, combined following Frueh et al. (2025), suggest an anorthositic norite to anorthositic gabbro composition. Distinct compositions including gabbros, gabbronorites, and norites are observed in the ejecta of nearby craters such as Birkeland (d = 82 km) and Rumford (d = 61 km), suggesting that SPA impact melt may be present at depths greater than 4 km and could have been excavated in the study region by larger impacts.

Our updated regional geological map, along with new insights into the local crustal stratigraphy, will be presented and discussed at the conference.