Apollo 16 PSR Figure 6-33 Planimetric map of Station 4

Cinco is a small crater in the Descartes Highlands of the Moon visited by the astronauts of

Apollo 16 Apollo 16 (April 1627, 1972) was the tenth human spaceflight, crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the second o ...

. The crater is one of a group of five (hence the name, Spanish for ''five'') craters that were collectively called the Cinco craters during the Apollo 16 mission. The craters were designated ''a'', ''b'', ''c'', ''d'', and ''e'', and the largest (''a'') was officially named ''Cinco'' after the mission in 1973 by the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

. On April 21, 1972, the Apollo 16 Apollo Lunar Module ''Orion'' landed about 4 km north of Cinco, northeast of the prominent South Ray crater. The astronauts John Young and

Charles Duke Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born October 3, 1935) is an American former astronaut, United States Air Force (USAF) officer and test pilot, and young Earth creationist. As Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972, he became the tenth and youngest p ...

explored the area over the course of three EVAs using a

Lunar Roving Vehicle The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is a Battery electric vehicle, battery-powered four-wheeled Rover (space exploration), rover used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program (Apollo 15, 15, Apollo 16, 16, and Apollo 17 ...

, or rover. They drove up Stone Mountain to Station 4, about 80 m west of Cinco crater, on EVA 2. The primary goal of sampling on Stone Mountain was to attempt to sample the Descartes Formation, although it remains unclear if the Descartes was sampled.''To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration''. Don E. Wilhelms, University of Arizona Press (1993).
Chapter 16
/ref> File:Duke double core at Station 4.jpg, Astronaut

extracting a double core at Station 4 on the west slope of Stone Mountain File:Young and Duke Station 4.jpg, Astronauts

(right) and John Young, walking back to the Lunar Roving Vehicle from the blocky rim crater at Station 4

External links

Apollo 16 Traverses
NASA Lunar Photomap 78D2S2(25)

References

Apollo 16 Impact craters on the Moon {{moon-crater-stub