Atlas (crater)
Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Infobox Lunar crater
Atlas is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the northeast part of the Moon, to the southeast of Mare Frigoris. Just to the west is the slightly smaller but still prominent crater Hercules. Northeast of Atlas is the large crater Endymion.
The inner wall of Atlas is multiply terraced and the edge slumped, forming a sharp-edged lip. This is a floor-fractured crater<ref>The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. (online)</ref> with a rough and hilly interior that has a lighter albedo than the surroundings. Floor-fractures are usually created as a result of volcanic modifications.
There are two dark patches along the inner edge of the walls; one along the north edge and another besides the southeast edges. A system of slender clefts named the Rimae Atlas crosses the crater floor, and were created by volcanism. Along the north and northeastern inner sides are a handful of dark-halo craters, most likely due to eruptions. Around the midpoint is a cluster of low central hills arranged in a circular formation.
Atlas is a crater of Upper (Late) Imbrian age.<ref>The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 11.2.</ref>
The name Atlas was formally recognized by the IAU in 1935.<ref>Template:Gpn</ref>
Its southwest quadrangle is characterised by an extremely high rockfall density by lunar standards.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp
Satellite cratersEdit
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Atlas.
| Atlas | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 45.3° N | 49.6° E | 22 km |
| D | 50.4° N | 49.6° E | 25 km |
| E | 48.6° N | 42.5° E | 58 km |
| G | 50.7° N | 46.5° E | 23 km |
| L | 51.3° N | 48.6° E | 6 km |
| P | 49.6° N | 52.7° E | 27 km |
| W | 44.4° N | 44.2° E | 4 km |
| X | 45.1° N | 45.0° E | 5 km |
ExplorationEdit
The Atlas crater was the primary landing site of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 by ispace, that launched on December 11, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> separating from the rocket 47 minutes later at a distance around Template:Convert away from Earth.<ref name="StatusUpdate" />Template:Verify inline If it had been successful, this mission would have been the first private landing on the lunar surface,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and would have been the first Japanese probe to land on the Moon.
Communication with Hakuto-R Mission 1 was lost during the final moments of descent to the lunar surface at 16:40 UTC (00:40 JST) on 25 April 2023.<ref name="StatusUpdate" />Template:Verify inline The iSpace team confirmed that the $90 million dollar spacecraft had most likely crashed during its landing on the Moon. Analysis determined that the lander plummeted uncontrollably when the propellant was exhausted. This happened because the onboard computer wrongly assumed the radar altimeter was faulty, and ignoring its data, misjudged the actual altitude of the spacecraft and kept hovering 5 kilometers above the surface of the Moon.<ref name="StatusUpdate">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
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External linksEdit
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- Pyroclastic deposits in Atlas crater from USGS Astrogeology Science Center (Clementine 750-nm (albedo) data)
