Daedalus is a prominent
crater located near the center of the
far side of the Moon. The inner wall is
terraced, and there is a cluster of central peaks on the relatively flat floor. Because of its location (shielded from radio emissions from the
Earth), it has been proposed as the site of a future giant
radio telescope, which would be scooped out of the crater itself, much like the
Arecibo radio telescope, but on a vastly larger scale.
The crater is named after
Daedalus of
Greek myth. It is pictured in famous photographs taken by the
Apollo 11 astronauts. In contemporary sources it was called Crater 308 (this was a temporary
IAU designation that preceded the establishment of far-side lunar nomenclature).[1]
Nearby craters of note include
Icarus to the east and
Racah to the south. Less than a crater diameter to the north-northeast is
Lipskiy.
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 Daedalus.
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.
S2CID122125855.