The vast Shackleton impact crater near the south pole of the moon is an inhospitable place – its exposed rim is permanently bombarded by sunlight while the interior is permanently in shadow.
Temperatures can soar above boiling point on the surface and well below freezing in the darkness.
But the 21km-wide (13-mile) and 4km-deep feature may also harbour frozen water that could help support life on a lunar base – a possibility that has sparked the interest of the American and Chinese space programmes.
Space missions in both countries are reportedly preparing to land probes near the crater – the US later this year and China in 2026.
For now, the programmes are operating independently of each other but China and the United States should keep communication lines open for potential teamwork, US policy researchers said.

月球南极附近巨大的沙克尔顿陨石坑是一个不适宜居住的地方——其裸露的边缘永久受到阳光的轰击，而内部则永久处于阴影之中。
地表温度可能飙升至沸点以上，而黑暗中则远低于冰点。
但这个宽 21 公里（13 英里）、深 4 公里的地貌也可能蕴藏着冰冻的水，有助于支持月球基地上的生命——这种可能性引起了美国和中国太空计划的兴趣。
据报道，两国的太空任务正准备在陨石坑附近着陆探测器——美国将于今年晚些时候，中国则于 2026 年 。
美国政策研究人员表示，目前，这些项目彼此独立运作，但中国和美国应保持沟通渠道畅通，以便潜在的团队合作。

Both the Intuitive Machines 2 (IM-2), named after the US company that built it, and China’s Chang’e 7 probe will drill up to one metre (3.3 feet) below the surface near the Shackleton crater, and study extracted lunar samples. Each probe will also bring equipment called a “hopper” to scout permanently dark areas, including the crater floor, for traces of “water ice”.
The ice could be used to create oxygen and hydrogen, and then produce air, drinking water and fuel on the moon itself to sustain manned exploration, without the costly need to bring them all the way from Earth.
China’s moon missions, which began with the uncrewed lunar-orbiter Chang’e 1 in 2007, are aimed at building a basic lunar research station by 2028.

以建造它的美国公司命名的直观机器2号（IM-2）和中国的嫦娥七号探测器都将钻探沙克尔顿陨石坑附近地表以下一米（3.3英尺）的地方，并研究提取的月球样本。每个探测器还将携带称为“漏斗”的设备来搜寻永久黑暗的区域，包括火山口底部，以寻找“水冰”的痕迹。
这些冰可以用来制造氧气和氢气，然后在月球上生产空气、饮用水和燃料，以维持载人探索，而无需花费昂贵的费用将它们从地球运来。
中国的探月任务始于2007年的无人月球轨道飞行器嫦娥一号，目标是到2028年建立一个基础月球研究站。

While similar space missions normally offer a chance for countries to work together, the so-called Wolf Amendment – a law passed by the US Congress in 2011 – restricts Nasa from directly working with Chinese organisations over technology theft concerns.

虽然类似的太空任务通常为各国提供合作的机会，但所谓的沃尔夫修正案（美国国会于 2011 年通过的一项法律）限制 NASA 因技术盗窃问题而直接与中国组织合作。

During a 2024 financial year budget hearing before US lawmakers in April, Nasa chief Bill Nelson said the amendment should stay in force and underlined concerns about a “space race” with China.
“This is where we’re going and where China’s going [too] … My concern is if China were to get there first, they’d say ‘this is our territory; you stay out’,” Nelson said as he showed a picture of lunar landing sites to a US House appropriations subcommittee last month.

在 4 月份美国立法者举行的 2024 财年预算听证会上，美国宇航局局长比尔·尼尔森表示，该修正案应继续有效，并强调了对与中国展开“太空竞赛”的担忧。
“这就是我们要去的地方，也是中国要去的地方……我担心的是，如果中国先到达那里，他们会说‘这是我们的领土’。”上个月，尼尔森向美国众议院拨款小组委员会展示了一张登月地点的照片时说道。

Roger Handberg, a political-science professor at the University of Central Florida, said some people viewed space “as the former US western frontier – you seize control because you can”. However, he was optimistic about future cooperation between China and the US.
“Nowadays everyone talks about the US and China as the leaders in lunar operations,” Handberg said. “The two will be major players in deciding the rules, which means the Wolf Amendment will go so that productive work can be done.”
“There is time to work out a solution that matches up to the original expectations in the Outer Space Treaty that space will not be a zone for conflict, but for cooperative activities generally,” Handberg said, referring to the 1967 treaty for the peaceful exploration and use of space, signed by more than 110 countries as of March.
While finding water ice on the moon would give an edge, he said it could be a decade before either China or the US developed the ability to retrieve and process it.
Daytime temperatures on the lunar surface can reach a boiling 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit), but remote sensing data has shown a significant amount of ice deposited in the permanently shadowed interior of some lunar craters.
One such well-studied crater is the bowl-shaped Shackleton, named after Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and sitting almost exactly at the lunar south pole. The south pole is defined by both the US and China as an area within 5 to 6 degrees latitude of the lunar south pole.

中佛罗里达大学政治学教授罗杰·汉德伯格表示，有些人将太空视为“前美国西部边境——你可以夺取控制权，因为你可以”。不过，他对中美未来的合作持乐观态度。
“现在每个人都在谈论美国和中国是月球行动的领导者，”汉德伯格说。“两国将成为决定规则的主要参与者，这意味着沃尔夫修正案将会通过，以便能够完成富有成效的工作。”
汉德伯格在谈到 1967 年和平探索条约时表示，“现在有时间制定出符合《外层空间条约》最初期望的解决方案，即太空不会成为冲突地区，而是普遍开展合作活动的地区。”截至 3 月，已有 110 多个国家签署了该协议。
他表示，虽然在月球上找到水冰会带来优势，但中国或美国可能需要十年时间才能具备回收和处理水冰的能力。
月球表面白天的温度可达 120 摄氏度（248 华氏度），但遥感数据显示，在一些月球陨石坑的永久阴影内部沉积了大量的冰。
碗形沙克尔顿陨石坑就是这样一个经过充分研究的陨石坑，它以南极探险家欧内斯特·沙克尔顿的名字命名，几乎正好位于月球南极。美国和中国均将南极定义为月球南极纬度5至6度范围内的区域。

Few places on the moon come with the conditions needed for sustainable human exploration, such as continual sunlight to power vehicles and lunar bases. But while it is always dark at the bottom of the Shackleton crater, parts of its rim are permanently in sunlight.
In 2021, Nasa and IM announced that the Texas-based company would develop a commercial lunar lander to deliver an ice drill to an area known as the Shackleton connecting ridge, just west of the crater.
“This area receives sufficient sunlight to power a lander for a 10-day mission, while also providing a clear line of sight to Earth for constant communications,” Nasa said.
It was referring to the IM-2 mission, which is scheduled to lift off in November at the earliest.
China has yet to officially announce the landing site for its Chang’e 7 mission, but according to Wu Yanhua, chief designer of the country’s Deep Space Exploration programme, its top candidate is also the Shackleton crater region.
Chang’e 7 would aim for an area southeast of Shackleton, Wu told the First International Deep Space Exploration Conference, or Tiandu Forum, in the Chinese city of Hefei last month.
Papers published in Chinese-language journals have already shown China’s strong interest in going to the crater. Shackleton was ranked first in a 2020 analysis of suitable zones and spots for lunar south pole landing, as Chang’e 4 mission commander Zhang He and her colleagues reported in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration in June that year.

月球上很少有地方具备人类可持续探索所需的条件，例如为车辆和月球基地提供动力的持续阳光。尽管沙克尔顿陨石坑的底部总是黑暗的，但它的部分边缘却永远沐浴在阳光下。
2021 年，美国宇航局和 IM 宣布，这家总部位于德克萨斯州的公司将开发一款商业月球着陆器，将冰钻运送到陨石坑以西的沙克尔顿连接山脊区域。
美国宇航局表示：“该区域接收到的阳光充足，可为着陆器提供执行 10 天任务的动力，同时还为地球提供清晰的视线，以实现持续通信。”
它指的是预计最早于 11 月发射的 IM-2 任务。
中国尚未正式宣布嫦娥七号任务的着陆地点，但据中国深空探测计划总设计师吴艳华介绍，其首要候选地点也是沙克尔顿陨石坑地区。
吴艳华上个月在中国合肥市举行的第一届国际深空探测大会或天都论坛上表示，嫦娥七号的目标将是沙克尔顿东南部的地区。
中文期刊上发表的论文已经表明了中国对前往火山口的浓厚兴趣。正如嫦娥四号任务指挥官张熇和她的同事当年 6 月在《深空探索杂志》上报道的那样，沙克尔顿在 2020 年月球南极着陆适宜区域和地点分析中排名第一。

While the moon’s south pole is of high value to scientists and future human explorers alike because of water ice, its surface full of craters poses a major challenge for robotic and crewed landing. “It’s a dangerous place to land, and there are few precious parts where you can do it,” Nelson told House appropriators last month.
In August, Nasa announced the sextion of 13 potential landing zones for its Artemis III mission. Planned for after 2025, the mission will mark the first return of humans to the moon in half a century, and will be the first time astronauts explore the lunar south pole.
Researchers in China have also identified a number of preferred landing areas in the south pole, with a few such as the Shackleton and Haworth craters overlapping with Nasa’s choices. China also hopes to send astronauts to the moon by 2030.

虽然月球南极由于水冰而对科学家和未来的人类探险家具有很高的价值，但其表面布满陨石坑对机器人和载人着陆构成了重大挑战。“这是一个危险的着陆地点，而且几乎没有什么珍贵的地方可以着陆，”尼尔森上个月告诉众议院拨款者。
8 月，美国宇航局宣布为其阿尔忒弥斯 III 任务选择 13 个备选着陆区。该任务计划于 2025 年之后进行，将标志着半个世纪以来人类首次重返月球，也将是宇航员首次探索月球南极。
中国的研究人员还确定了南极的一些首选着陆区域，其中沙克尔顿和霍沃斯陨石坑等一些区域与美国宇航局的选择重叠。中国还希望在2030年之前将宇航员送上月球。

However, even with overlapping landing locations, mission conflict is unlikely – since each location is over 100 sq km (38 square mils) in size and contains multiple landing spots.
The US and China are now assembling their own moon camps under the frxwork of the Artemis Accords and the International Lunar Research Station, respectively.
“While major space players will lead a particular settlement – one way to think of them is city states – they should interact in order to survive collectively as the lunar environment is harsh and unforgiving,” Handberg said.
“The process of space exploration is difficult, complicated and expensive. Even the two powers may find the burden heavy, and the need for cooperative activities will become more obvious that the Wolf Amendment goes away.”
Brian Weeden from the Secure World Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, also urged the US government to revise the amendment and resume bilateral exchanges with China, as he gave testimony before the US-China Economic Security Review Commission earlier this month.
“Congress should modify the Wolf Amendment to allow Nasa to engage in space activities with China that support US national interests,” Weeden said, citing priority engagement areas such as basic space science, robotic space exploration and increased data sharing on space weather and orbital debris.

然而，即使着陆地点重叠，任务冲突也不太可能发生——因为每个地点的面积都超过 100 平方公里（38 平方密耳），并且包含多个着陆点。
美国和中国目前正在分别在《阿耳忒弥斯协议》和国际月球研究站的框架下组建自己的月球营地。
汉德伯格说：“虽然主要的太空参与者将领导一个特定的定居点——可以将它们视为城邦国家——但它们应该进行互动，以便集体生存，因为月球环境是严酷无情的。”
“太空探索的过程是困难、复杂且昂贵的。即使是两个大国也可能会感到负担沉重，随着《沃尔夫修正案》的消失，合作活动的必要性将变得更加明显。”
华盛顿智库安全世界基金会的布莱恩·韦登本月早些时候在美中经济安全审查委员会作证时也敦促美国政府修改修正案并恢复与中国的双边交往。
威登表示：“国会应修改《沃尔夫修正案》，允许美国宇航局与中国开展支持美国国家利益的太空活动。”他列举了基础太空科学、机器人太空探索以及增加太空天气和轨道碎片数据共享等优先参与领域。。

China was conducting or planning to conduct many of the same space activities as the US, so the two nations did have areas where their interests aligned, Weeden said. Meanwhile, China had been constructive in its interactions with the international community on space law and norms, he told the commission.
Handberg said there was already some nibbling away at the restrictions on a more informal level, which would increase over time. However, the amendment would not be overturned until there was a real need to do so, he said.
“Over time, the amendment is effectively nullified through exceptions, even though the title may remain.”

威登说，中国正在或计划进行许多与美国相同的太空活动，因此两国确实存在利益一致的领域。与此同时，他告诉委员会，中国在与国际社会就太空法律和规范进行互动时一直保持建设性态度。
汉德伯格表示，已经在非正式层面上逐步取消了一些限制，而且随着时间的推移，这种限制还会增加。不过，他表示，除非确实有必要，否则不会推翻该修正案。
“随着时间的推移，即使标题可能保留，该修正案也会因例外而实际上无效。”