A17 PSR Fig 6-59 Shorty Crater cross section

Shorty is a feature on 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 ...

, an

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 ...

in 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.APOD - June 24, 2012
/ref> Astronauts

Eugene Cernan Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, United States naval aviator, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. Cernan traveled into space three times and ...

and

Harrison Schmitt Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, former NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico. He is the most recent living person—and only person without a background in military a ...

visited it in 1972, on 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. It is the location of the famous "orange soil", which geologists believe to be small bits of rapidly-cooled molten rock ejected in a

lava fountain Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or unde ...

. It is about in diameter and up to deep.LROC - Just Another Crater?
/ref> To the east of Shorty are

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

Camelot Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...

, and the Apollo 17 landing site. To the southeast is Brontë. To the southwest are

Lara Lara may refer to: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district ...

and

Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

. The crater was named after the character "Shorty" in

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...

's 1967 novel '' Trout Fishing in America'', as well as to honor the genre of the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

with particular reference to

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger ( ; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel '' The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger published several short stories in '' Story'' magazine in 1940, before serving in World Wa ...

. File:Shorty crater AS17-P-2750 ASU.jpg, Apollo 17 panoramic camera image File:As17-137-21009.jpg, Exploring Shorty crater during the

mission to the Moon. The orange soil was found to the right of the rover, at the base of the small hill at the crater rim. File:Apollo 17 orange soil.jpg, Orange soil found next to Shorty, which turned out to be titanium-rich pyroclastic glass (sample 74220 in the table below) File:A17 PSR Figure 6-111 Station 4.gif, Planimetric map of Station 4 including the rim of Shorty

Samples

The following samples were collected from Shorty crater (Station 4), as listed in Table 7-I of the ''Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report''.''Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report'' (NASA Special Publication 330). Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C. 1973. The "Rock Type" is from the table, and the "Lithology" is from the Lunar Sample Compendium of the Lunar and Planetary Institute or NASA's Lunar Sample Catalog.

References

External links

*
VR panorama43D1S2(25) Apollo 17 Traverses
at Lunar and Planetary Institute
Geological Investigation of the Taurus-Littrow Valley: Apollo 17 Landing Site
{{Apollo program Impact craters on the Moon Apollo 17 Harrison Schmitt Gene Cernan