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

Cinco is a small crater in the

Descartes Highlands The Descartes Highlands is an area of lunar highlands located on the near side that served as the landing site of the American Apollo 16 mission in early 1972. The Descartes Highlands is located in the area surrounding Descartes crater, after whi ...

of the Moon visited by the astronauts of

Apollo 16 Apollo 16 (April 1627, 1972) was the tenth crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate to land on the Moon. It was the second of Apollo's " J missions", with an extended sta ...

. 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; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

. 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 explored the area over the course of three EVAs using a

Lunar Roving Vehicle The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is a battery-powered four-wheeled rover used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program ( 15, 16, and 17) during 1971 and 1972. It is popularly called the Moon buggy, a play on the t ...

, 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 Charles Duke extracting a double core at Station 4 on the west slope of Stone Mountain File:Young and Duke Station 4.jpg, Astronauts Charles Duke (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 {{crater-stub