Flag crater is a small crater in the Descartes Highlands of the Moon visited by the astronauts of Apollo 16. The name of the crater was formally adopted by the IAU in 1973. Geology Station 1 is adjacent to Flag, at the much smaller Plum crater.
On April 21, 1972, the Apollo 16 Apollo Lunar Module (LM) Orion landed about 1.5 km east of Flag, which is between the prominent North Ray and South Ray craters. The astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the area over the course of three EVAs using a Lunar Roving Vehicle, or rover. They drove to Flag on EVA 1.
Flag crater is approximately 240 m in diameter and over 20 m deep.Apollo 16 Landing Area, 78D2S1(50), NASA Lunar Topophotomap. Published by The Defense Mapping Agency, November 1974. Available from Lunar and Planetary Institute. The adjacent crater Plum is only about 30 m in diameter.Plum, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) The slightly larger crater Spook, also visited by the astronauts, lies less than 1 km to the east.
Flag cuts into the Cayley Formation of Imbrian age.Geologic Map of the Apollo 16 (Descartes) Landing Area by Apollo Field Geology Investigation Team (D. P. Elston, E. L. Boudette, J. P. Schafer), United States Geological Survey, April 1972
Samples
The following samples were collected from the vicinity of Plum and Flag crater (Station 1), as listed in Table 6-II of the Apollo 16 Preliminary Science Report,Apollo 16 Preliminary Science Report (NASA SP-315), 1972 which does not include samples smaller than 25 g weight (of which there were many). Sample type, lithology, and descriptions are from the Lunar Sample Atlas of the Lunar and Planetary Institute.Lunar Sample Atlas, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Sample Sample Type Lithology Photo Description 61015 rock breccia coated with black glass on one side and is thought to be ejecta from South Ray crater 61016 rock impact melt breccia known as Big Muley; named after Bill Muehlberger, the leader of the Apollo 16 field geology team 61135 rock regolith breccia an ancient regolith breccia that became a closed system about 3.9 b.y. ago; and has a few zap pits 61155 rake breccia clast-rich "glassy impact melt"; has abundant white clasts, thin glass veins and glassy mesostasis 61156 rock impact melt breccia Tough, medium gray, poikilitic impact melt that has been thermally metamorphosed 61175 rock fragmental breccia Contains a high percentage of glass, with some agglutinate. It also contains a small, but significant, mare component 61195 rock breccia coherent, medium grey breccia with a glassy matrix and abundant clasts; zap pits are surrounded with wide spall zones 61295 rock breccia friable light matrix breccia with both light and dark clasts; rounded and has many zap pits 61536 rake breccia contains a large white clast held within a glass matrix, and has a thin glass coating on surface 61546 rake breccia vesicular chunk of glass with numerous small white clasts and micrometeorite craters on one side only
External links Apollo 16 Traverses, 78D2S2(25), Lunar and Planetary Institute
References