Geological Chronicle
Positioned on the lunar far side within the northeast sector of the South Pole-Aitken basin, Apollo (previously cataloged as Basin XVI) is a massive 524-kilometer double-ring impact basin. Excavated during the Pre-Nectarian period, it belongs to the peak-ring class of lunar basins. It has an interior mountainous ring roughly half the diameter of the outer rim at 247 kilometers across, with no central peak.
Subsequent impacts and volcanic activity heavily modified the basin floor. Portions of the interior flooded with basaltic lava, leaving distinct patches of low-albedo lunar mare. A large expanse of dark mare occupies the middle of the inner ring, showing bright ray markings from distant impacts, while another long stretch of mare material borders the southern basin wall. The surrounding outer and inner walls have eroded over billions of years into discontinuous, incised mountainous arcs.
The basin contains numerous smaller impact craters named in honor of space exploration pioneers. The International Astronomical Union officially designated Apollo in 1970 after the Apollo program. Three prominent craters on the eastern and southeastern margins carry the names of Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, William Anders, and Jim Lovell. In 2006, the IAU named seven interior craters after the crew lost in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, including Husband, McCool, Ramon, Chawla, L. Clark, D. Brown, and M. Anderson.
Apollo basin became a primary destination for robotic lunar exploration in the 2020s. On 1 June 2024, the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 6 touched down in the southern mare plains of the basin at coordinates 41.64° S, 153.99° W. Carrying the miniature rover Jinchan, the lander collected the first surface samples from the lunar far side, ascending from the floor on 3 June 2024 and delivering the material to Earth on 25 June 2024.