Tsiolkovskiy (crater)

Tsiolkovskiy (crater)

Tsiolkovskiy on the Moon's far side from the Apollo 15 showing the central peak. NASA photo.
Coordinates	20.4°S 129.1°E / -20.4; 129.1
Diameter	180 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	235° at sunrise
Eponym	Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Tsiolkovskiy is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It lies in the southern hemisphere, to the west of the crater Gagarin, and northwest of Milne. Just to the south is Waterman, with Neujmin to the south-southwest. This feature was discovered on photographs sent back by Luna 3. Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt and other scientists (Schmitt was the only trained scientist, a geologist, to walk on the moon) strongly advocated Tsiolkovskiy as the Apollo 17's, or a later flight's (which were all canceled), landing site, using small communications satellites deployed from the Command/Service Module for communication from the far side of the moon. NASA vetoed the idea as too risky, and Apollo 17 instead landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley on December 11, 1972.

This is one of the most prominent features to be found on that hemisphere. It possesses high, terraced inner walls and a well-formed central peak. The floor is unusual for a crater on the far side, as it is covered by the dark-hued mare that is characteristic of the maria found on the near side. The distribution of the mare material is not symmetrical across the floor, but is instead more heavily concentrated to the east and south. There is also a protruding bay of darker material that reaches the wall to the west-northwest. The remainder of the floor has the same albedo as the terrain surrounding the crater.

The crater protrudes into the neighbouring Fermi, a comparably sized formation that does not have a lava-flooded floor.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Tsiolkovskiy.

Tsiolkovskiy	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
W	16.0° S	126.9° E	13 km
X	14.7° S	126.5° E	12 km

Trivia

• In the Fictional Mobile Suit Gundam series, Tsiolkovskiy is the site of Zeon Lunar Base Granada.

References

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097. 
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4. 
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1. 
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode 1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. 
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6. 
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3. 
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4. 
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revision ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3. 
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6. 
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1. 

External links

The following L&PI topographic maps show portions of the Tsiolkovskiy crater:

Northern half	— LTO-101B2 Tsiolkovskij Borealis
Southern half	— LTO-101B3 Tsiolkovskij Australis
Northeast	— LTO-102A1 Patsaev
Southeast	— LTO-102A4 Fesnekov