Geological Chronicle
Mandel'shtam is the degraded remnant of a large crater on the far side of the Moon, located within the proposed Chaplygin-Mandel'shtam Basin. Spanning 181.89 kilometers across, the formation lies north of the crater Vening Meinesz, while the crater Papaleksi is nearly attached to its northeastern outer rim.
The outer rim of Mandel'shtam has been battered into near ruin, with sections forming only an irregular circular rise in the lunar surface. Much of the rim consists of clefts, ridges, and small craters. The satellite crater Mandel'shtam R breaks across the rim to the west-southwest, and Mandel'shtam Y is attached to the northern edge.
The interior floor of the crater has experienced extensive bombardment, and its central portion is overlain by Mandel'shtam A. The satellite crater Mandel'shtam N lies along the south-southwestern inner edge, whereas the northwestern and southeastern floor areas remain relatively level with less impact damage. To the east, the small crater Mandel'shtam F features a modest ray system with faint, streaky rays extending across Mandel'shtam's floor.
Prior to receiving its formal name, the crater was cataloged as Crater 220. In 1970, the International Astronomical Union officially named the feature after Soviet physicist Leonid I. Mandel'shtam.