Dune is a feature on Earth's

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, a crater in the

Hadley–Apennine Hadley–Apennine is a region on the Near side of the Moon, near side of Moon, Earth's Moon that served as the landing site for the United States, American Apollo 15 mission, the fourth crewed landing on the Moon and the first of the "List of Apol ...

region. Astronauts

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon, seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the NASA Astronaut ...

and

James Irwin James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force Aviator, pilot. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landin ...

visited the south rim of it in 1971, on the

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

mission, during EVA 2. The south rim of Dune was designated Geology Station 4 of the mission. Dune is located about 1.8 km east of Hadley Rille, less than 1 km south of the smaller

Earthlight ''Earthlight'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1955. It is an expansion to novel length of a novella of the same name that he had published four years earlier. Overview ''Earthlight'' is a scie ...

crater, and about 3 km south of the Apollo 15 landing site itself. The crater was named by the astronauts after the 1965 novel by

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...

,''Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert'', by Brian Herbert, 2004, page 244. and the name was formally adopted 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 ...

in 1973.

A15 PSR Fig 5-74 Planimetric map Station 4

Samples

The following samples were collected from Dune Crater (Station 4), as listed in Table 5-II of the ''Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report''. Sample type, lithology, and description are from Table 5-IV of the same volume. Samples 15470 to 15476 were collected near where the rover was parked to the south of the rim of Dune. Samples 15485, 15486, and 15499 were collected from the largest boulder in the photograph above. Sample 15498 was collected nearby.Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report, NASA SP-289. Prepared by NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, 1972.

External links

Apollo 15 Traverses
Lunar Photomap 41B4S4(25)

References

{{reflist Impact craters on the Moon