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Geologic map of the Maskelyne DA region of the moon, Lunar Orbiter site II P-2, southeastern Mare Tranquillitatis including Apollo landing site l

August 9, 2023

This map shows the geology in and around potential early Apollo landing site 1 in the lunar equatorial belt. The Maskelyne DA region, at the southeastern edge of the Mare Tranquillitatis, is in the area transitional between mare and terra. Patches of typical terra material occur on northwest-trending ridges, and typical heavily cratered mare materials occurs only in the east-central part of the region. The terrain in the rest of the region, including the potential landing site, is exceptionally smooth and deficient in craters more than 50 m (meters) in diameter. A large cratered dome, possibly indicative of late-stage volcanism, occurs in the southern part of the region. Telescopically, the terrain over most of the region resembles that of mare areas with intermediate albedo; hence, at a scale of 1:1,000,000 the materials here were mapped as unit Ipm2 of the Procellarum Group (Wilhelms, 1965).

Publication Year 2023
Title Geologic map of the Maskelyne DA region of the moon, Lunar Orbiter site II P-2, southeastern Mare Tranquillitatis including Apollo landing site l
DOI 10.5066/P9RJ7RP2
Authors M. H. Carr
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Digital Object Identifier Catalog
USGS Organization Astrogeology Science Center