form, a commodity that is expensive to deliver directly from the Earth. This crater has also been proposed as a future site for a large infrared telescope. The low temperature of the crater floor makes it ideal for infrared observations, and solar cells placed along the rim could provide near-continuous power to the observatory. About 120 kilometers from the crater lies the 5-km tall Malapert Mountain, a peak that is perpetually visible from the Earth, and which could serve as a radio relay station when suitably equipped. In 2006, NASA named the rim of Shackleton as a potential candidate for its lunar outpost, originally slated to be up and running by 2020 and continuously staffed by a crew by 2024. The location would promote self-sustainability for lunar residents, as perpetual sunlight on the south pole would provide energy for solar panels. Furthermore, the shadowed polar regions are believed to contain the frozen water necessary for human consumption and could also be harvested for fuel manufacture. The crater is a major landing site candidate for the Artemis program and could be explored by a crew starting in 2024 with the first lunar outpost in 2028. In popular culture Shackleton plays prominently in the alternate history television drama series For All Mankind. In the program, astronauts in a fictionalized version of the Apollo 15 mission land near Shackleton in 1971 and discover water ice in the crater walls. Later, the United States and the Soviet Union establish competing, crewed bases next to the crater to take advantage of the ice for drinking, oxygen and other uses. Shackleton was also the site of the first lunar base in Mass Effect. It was chosen as a location due to its hypothesised water ice deposits. See also Colonization of the Moon Lunar ice Lunar south pole References External links Shackleton Crater Topography Visualization from NASA LRO LQ30 quadrangle Impact craters on the Moon