Lunar Module Landing Sites

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Apollo Missions Images from Landing Sites Apollo 11 Landed at Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) 0Á4'5"N, 23Á42'28"E Mare Tranquilitatis was the first site chosen because it is a relatively smooth and level area. The LM landed safely some 6 km from the site originally selected due to a high density of craters at the original site. In the last seconds before landing, the LM was manually piloted by Neil Armstrong to avoid a sharp-rimmed ray crater which measured 180 meters across and 30 meters deep. This crater was named West. Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS11/a11.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo11info.html http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1969-059C.html Apollo 12 Landed at Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) 3.036 S, 23.418 W Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS12/a12.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo12info.html Apollo 13 Mission aborted and did not land on moon. The site selected was the Fra Mauro crater . This site was used by Apollo 14. Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS13/a13.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo13info.html Find more about the malfunctions/accident at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ap13acc.html Apollo 14 Landed at Fra Mauro 3.65 S, 17.47 W Site was a hilly region about 30 miles (49.3 km) north of the Fra Mauro crater--the same site selected for the aborted Apollo 13 mission. The landing site was near Cone Crater. Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS14/a14.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo14info.html Apollo 15 Landed at Hadley Rille/Apennine Mountains 26.13 N, 3.63E Site is at the foot of the Apennine mountain range. The Apennines rise up to more than 15,000 feet (4572 m) along the southeastern edge of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS15/a15.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo15info.html Apollo 16 Landed at Descartes Highlands 8Á 59' 29'' S, 15Á 30' 52'' E Site was a hilly region around Descartes crater in the lunar highlands. The landing site had two basic terrains that were explored and sampled: the Cayley Plains - a smooth plains unit, and the Descartes formation made up of hilly furrowed highland material. Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS16/a16.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo16info.html Apollo 17 Landed at Taurus-Littrow 20.18N, 30.76E Site, Taurus-Littrow, takes its name from the Taurus mountains and Littrow crater which are located in a mountainous region on the southeastern rim of the Serenitatis basin. The actual target landing site was at 30Á 44' 58.3" east longitude by 20Á 9' 50.5" north latitude -- about 750 km east of the Apollo 15 landing site at Hadley Rille. Other Resources: http://www.nasm.edu/apollo/AS17/a17.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo17info.html