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Geologic Exploration of Taurus-Littrow: Apollo 17 Landing Site

December 31, 1973

Apollo 17 landed in a deep graben valley embaying the mountainous highlands southeast of the Serenitatis basin. Impact-generated breccias underlie the massifs adjacent to the valley, and basalt has flooded and leveled the valley floor. The dark mantle inferred from orbital photographs was not recognized as a discrete unit; the unusually thick regolith of the valley floor contains a unique high concentration of dark glass beads that may cause the low albedo of much of the surface.

Publication Year 1973
Title Geologic Exploration of Taurus-Littrow: Apollo 17 Landing Site
DOI 10.1126/science.182.4113.672
Authors W.R. Muehlberger, R. M. Batson, E.A. Cernan, V. L. Freeman, M.H. Haitt, H. E. Holt, Keith A. Howard, K.B. Jackson, V.S. Larson, J.J. Reed, J. J. Rennilson, H.H. Schmitt
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Science
Index ID 70198190
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center