Apollo 15 Geology Station 4 at Dune Crater

Feature Profile & Selenographic Data

Feature type

landing

Coordinates

26.04° N · 3.66° E

Diameter

0.38 km

IAU approval

1973/01/01 00:00:00

LAC quadrangle

LAC-41 · Montes Apenninus

Geological Chronicle

Dune is a 0.38-kilometer-wide crater located in the Hadley–Apennine region of the Moon, roughly 3 kilometers south of the Apollo 15 landing site and 1.8 kilometers east of Hadley Rille. Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin explored the crater on their second extravehicular activity in 1971. The south rim of Dune served as Geology Station 4 for the mission, where the crew parked the rover to collect samples.

During their stop at Station 4, the astronauts collected multiple lunar specimens. Samples 15470 to 15476 were gathered near the parked rover, while samples 15485, 15486, and 15499 were collected from the largest boulder at the site, with sample 15498 retrieved nearby.

The crater was named by the astronauts after the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. The International Astronomical Union formally adopted the name in 1973.

Chronology & Exploration

1. 1971 Apollo 15 Exploration

   David Scott and James Irwin explore the south rim of Dune crater during EVA 2, designating it Geology Station 4.

2. 1973 IAU Name Approval

   The International Astronomical Union officially adopts the name Dune.

Scientific Sources & References

• IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature — Official feature entry
• Wikipedia: Dune (crater) — Localized Wikipedia extract via Craterra pipeline

Name Origin

Astronaut-named feature, Apollo 15 site.