Mackin Crater in the Taurus-Littrow Valley

Feature Profile & Selenographic Data

Feature type

landing

Coordinates

20.10° N · 30.73° E

Diameter

0.48 km

IAU approval

1973/01/01 00:00:00

LAC quadrangle

LAC-43 · Macrobius

Geological Chronicle

Mackin is a 0.48-kilometer crater in the Taurus-Littrow valley, located at selenographic coordinates 20.1043° N, 30.726° E in the Macrobius (LAC-43) quadrangle. It sits adjacent to the similarly sized crater Hess, bordered by Camelot to the north, Shorty and Lara to the northwest, Nansen to the west, and Emory to the northeast.

During the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed north of Mackin in the Taurus-Littrow valley. Although the crew did not visit the crater itself, the astronauts named the feature after geologist Joseph Hoover Mackin.

Chronology & Exploration

1. 1972 Apollo 17 Mission Landing

   Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed north of Mackin during Apollo 17, naming the crater after geologist Joseph Hoover Mackin.

Scientific Sources & References

• IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature — Official name, feature type, coordinates, dimensions, approval and name origin.
• Wikipedia - Mackin (crater) — Revision ID 1322228773

Name Origin

Astronaut-named feature, Apollo 17 site. (Spelling changed from Mackin-Apollo.)