Littrow is a

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

that is located in the northeastern part of the

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 ...

's near side, on the east edge of

Mare Serenitatis Mare Serenitatis (Latin ''serēnitātis'', the "Sea of Serenity") is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon. Its diameter is . Geology Mare Serenitatis is located within the Serenitatis basin, which is of the Nectarian ...

. Its diameter is 29 km. The crater is named after Bohemian astronomer

Joseph Johann von Littrow Joseph Johann von Littrow (13 March 1781, Horšovský Týn () – 30 November 1840, Vienna) was an Austrian astronomer. In 1837, he was ennobled with the title Joseph Johann Edler von Littrow. He was the father of Karl Ludwig Edler von Littrow a ...

(1781–1840). Some distance to the northeast is the prominent crater

Römer The Römer (German surname, "Roman") is a medieval building in the Altstadt of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and one of the city's most important landmarks. The Römer is located opposite the Old St. Nicholas Church and has been the city hall ( ...

, while to the south is

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

The rim of Littrow is heavily worn and eroded, especially along the southern wall. The interior has been flooded with

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

in the past, leaving a relatively smooth, featureless surface with no central rise.

Rimae Littrow

Just to the northwest of Littrow is a system of

rille Rille (German for 'groove') is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is ''rima'', plural ''rimae''. Typically, a rille can be several kilometers w ...

s designated the Rimae Littrow. These are located at selenographic

coordinate In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine and standardize the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The coordinates are ...

s 22.1° N, 29.9° E, and have a maximum diameter of 115 km. To the south-southwest is the

Taurus–Littrow Taurus–Littrow is a Moon, lunar valley located on the Near side of the Moon, near side at the coordinates . It served as the landing site for the United States, American Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, the last crewed mission to the Moon ...

valley that is notable for being the landing site of the

Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the eleventh and final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon, ...

mission. Part of Rimae Littrow (northwest of the crater Clerke) was considered for a landing site of an early

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

mission, primarily because the mare materials in the area are anomalously dark, and also because there are abundant

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features ...

s in the area. El-Baz, Farouk, 1968. ''Geologic Characteristics of the Nine Lunar Landing Mission Sites Recommended by the Group for Lunar Exploration Planning''. Bellcomm, Inc. TR-68-340-1. The site would have been the landing site of

Apollo 14 Apollo 14 (January 31February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to Moon landing, land on the Moon, and the first to land in the Geology of the Moon#Highlands, lunar highlands. It was the las ...

had

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo program, Apollo space program and would have been the third Moon landing. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the landing was abort ...

succeeded in landing in the

Fra Mauro formation The Fra Mauro formation (or Fra Mauro Highlands) is a Geology of the Moon, formation on the near side of the Moon, near side of Moon, Earth's Moon that served as the landing site for the American Apollo 14 mission in 1971. It is named after th ...

lunar highlands. Apollo 14 was redirected there following the failure of Apollo 13 to make a lunar landing.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Littrow. The following craters have been renamed 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 ...

. * Littrow B — ''See''

Clerke (crater) Clerke is a tiny lunar impact crater named after Irish astronomer Agnes Mary Clerke, who played a role in bringing astronomy and astrophysics to the public in Victorian England. It is located near the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis in the ...

Catena Littrow

There is a catena (crater chain), named after crater Littrow.

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

LTO-43D1 Littrow
— L&PI

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

Littrow at The Moon Wiki
All these are on Rimae Littrow; * * {{cite web, last = Wood , first = Chuck , date = September 21, 2004 , url = http://www.lpod.org/archive/LPOD-2004-09-21.htm , title = Littrow Rilles - A Wider View , publisher = Lunar Photo of the Day Impact craters on the Moon