Lacus Mortis


Lacus Mortis is a plain of basaltic lava flows in the northeastern part of the Moon. It lies just to the south of the elongated Mare Frigoris, being separated by a slender arm of rugged ground. To the south is the Lacus Somniorum, separated from
this mare by the joined craters Plana and Mason, and a strip of uneven surface.
Located prominently just to the east of the midpoint of this feature is the crater Bürg. The western part of the Lacus Mortis contains an extensive system of criss-crossing rilles collectively designated Rimae Bürg. The rilles are suspected to have formed from lava tubes.
The selenographic coordinates of the Lacus Mortis are 45.0° N, 27.2° E, and it has a diameter of.
thought to represent lava tubes beneath the surface.
In March 2014 Astrobotic Technology announced Lacus Mortis will be the target destination for its first Moon mission as part of the Google Lunar X Prize competition. Although the competition ended without a winner, Astrobotic became a NASA contractor and won a contract to land several commercial and NASA payloads at Lacus Mortis in 2021. The plan is to land their Peregrine lander next to a pit located in the Lacus Mortis plain, then circumnavigate the pit with a rover, while a micro-rover called Asagumo enters the pit, that is thought to offer access to the lava tubes suspected to exist below the surface.