Geological Chronicle
Van Serg is a crater in the Taurus–Littrow valley on Earth's Moon, measuring 0.1 kilometers in diameter. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited it in 1972 on the Apollo 17 mission, designating the site Geology Station 9 during their third extravehicular excursion. Shakespeare crater lies to the northwest, while Cochise and Geology Station 8 sit to the northeast at the base of the Sculptured Hills.
The astronauts named the crater after Harvard University geology professor Hugh McKinstry, who wrote satire under the pseudonym Nicholas Vanserg. According to academic Tom Lehrer, the pseudonym derived from the temporary Vanserg Building at Harvard, named for its original tenants: Veterans Administration, Naval Science, Electronic Research, and Graduate dining hall.
During EVA 3 at Station 9, the astronauts collected lunar samples documented in Table 7-I of the Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report. Their rock types and lithology were subsequently cataloged through the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA.