Powell Crater at the Apollo 17 Site

Feature Profile & Selenographic Data

Feature type

landing

Coordinates

20.16° N · 30.76° E

Diameter

0.4 km

IAU approval

1973/01/01 00:00:00

LAC quadrangle

LAC-43 · Macrobius

Geological Chronicle

Powell is a lunar crater measuring 0.4 kilometers in diameter in the Taurus–Littrow valley. Situated at coordinates 20.1606°N, 30.7633°E, the feature lies within the Macrobius quadrangle.

During the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed less than 1 km northeast of Powell, but they did not visit the crater.

Trident and the landing site lie to the north of Powell, with Camelot and Horatio to the northwest and Sherlock to the northeast. Steno and Emory are located to the southeast. The astronauts named the crater after John Wesley Powell, geologist and explorer of the American West.

Chronology & Exploration

1. 1972 Apollo 17 Landing

   Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt land near Powell and name the crater for geologist John Wesley Powell.

Scientific Sources & References

• IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature — Official name, feature type, coordinates, dimensions, approval and name origin.
• Wikipedia — Powell (crater)

Name Origin

Astronaut-named feature, Apollo 17 site.