Fractures in the mare of Tsiolkovskiy Crater

Small fractures in the mare floor of Tsiolkovskiy Crater are a departure from the usual scene of smooth mare pitted with impact craters. As the mare cools, fractures like these can form, or these fractures might have formed due to changes in the morphology of the Tsiolkovskiy impact crater over time. Image width is 580 m; NAC Image M130822373R, incidence angle 73° [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Located on the lunar far-side (20.4° S, 129.1° E), the interior of Tsiolkovskiy Crater is filled with Upper Imbrium aged mare basalt. The 185 km diameter impact crater is named after the Russian physicist and space pioneer Konstantin E. Tsiolkovskiy (1857 - 1935). The first image of this crater was acquired by the Soviet Luna III robotic spacecraft in 1959. Read more about Tsiolkovskiy crater here, view the LROC NAC Youtube movie, and browse the full-resolution NAC image below!

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Uplift, Boulders of Tsiolkovskiy

Floor of Tsiolkovskiy - Constellation Region of Interest

Published by Sarah Braden on 24 August 2010

Mare Pits