The Crater That Anchored Apollo 17's First Stop

Feature Profile & Selenographic Data

Feature type

landing

Coordinates

20.15° N · 30.79° E

Diameter

0.52 km

IAU approval

1973/01/01 00:00:00

LAC quadrangle

LAC-43 · Macrobius

Geological Period

Apollo 17 site (1972)

Geological Chronicle

In 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt traversed the Taurus-Littrow valley during the Apollo 17 mission. Among the small craters they visited on foot, one became a fixed reference in mission planning: Steno-Apollo, a 520-meter-wide impact crater that anchored the first geology stop of the traverse.

The crew referred to the crater simply as Steno during the mission. Its north rim was designated Geology Station 1, the first of a series of planned field stops where Schmitt collected samples and recorded observations. The crater sits among neighbors on the valley floor: Emory lies to the south, Trident and Powell to the northwest, and Sherlock to the northeast.

The crater was named by the astronauts themselves after Nicolas Steno, the Danish geologist. The IAU recognized the name under its catalog of astronaut-named features at the Apollo 17 site.

Chronology & Exploration

1. 1972 Apollo 17 Visit

   Cernan and Schmitt visited Steno-Apollo during their first EVA traverse; the north rim served as Geology Station 1.

Scientific Sources & References

• IAU Planetary Gazetteer — Official IAU feature record with coordinates and classification.
• Wikipedia: Steno-Apollo — Primary source describing the crater's location, mission context, and naming.

Name Origin

Astronaut-named feature, Apollo 17 site.