Location of Nansen-Apollo crater in Taurus-Littrow Valley. South Massif is at lower left, North Massif is at top center, and Sculptured Hills are at upper right. Scale bar is 5 km
Nansen-Apollo is a feature on Earth's
Moon, a crater in
Taurus-Littrow valley, at the base of the South Massif. Astronauts
Eugene Cernan and
Harrison Schmitt visited it in 1972, on the
Apollo 17 mission. The astronauts referred to it simply as Nansen during the mission. Geology Station 2 of the mission was located at Nansen. Nansen is located in the 'light mantle' which is almost certainly an
avalanche deposit from the South Massif.
To the north of Nansen is
Lara crater and Geology Station 3. To the northeast is
Shorty and Geology Station 4. About 5 km to the east are
Mackin and
Hess craters.
Nansen crater at the base of South Massif, facing north. Note the rover near the right edge for scale. The boulder in right foreground (boulder 2) was heavily sampled by the astronauts.
Apollo 17 panoramic camera image. Note the boulders near center which are visible in the ground-level image as well.
References
^Nansen-Apollo, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (
IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
^The Valley of Taurus-Littrow, Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal, Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright 1995 by Eric M. Jones