Geological Chronicle
Situated on the lunar far side, Planté rests near the eastern inner wall of the much larger crater Keeler, with the expansive formation Heaviside adjoining Keeler directly to the east. The crater measures 36.8 kilometers in diameter and exhibits a sharp-edged rim enclosing an uneven interior floor. The floor widens along its southeastern half, a morphology attributed to slumped material or ejecta accumulation.
Spectroscopic surveys of the crater have revealed the infrared signature of pure crystalline plagioclase exposed along the northwest wall and northern rim. Planté lacks a central peak. Instead, a small impact crater sits west of the midpoint, with low ridges extending from its rim northeastward across the floor.
During the flight of Apollo 8 in 1968, a small crater on Planté's northern interior slope served as control point CP-2. Orbital sightings on this feature refined the cartographic accuracy of the lunar far side before subsequent Apollo missions provided further photographic control. The International Astronomical Union officially approved the crater's name in 1979 in honor of French physicist Gaston Planté.