Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Taurus-Littrow Valley
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon, 1972
Related Questions
Read Next
Colorful winter sunset
What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?
Galileo spacecraft image of the Moon taken on December 7, 1992. The distinct bright ray crater at the bottom of the image is the Tycho impact basin. The dark areas are lava rock filled impact basins: Oceanus Procellarum (on the left), Mare Imbrium (cont'd
5 Things People See in the Moon
Galileo spacecraft image of the Moon taken on December 7, 1992. The distinct bright ray crater at the bottom of the image is the Tycho impact basin. The dark areas are lava rock filled impact basins: Oceanus Procellarum (on the left), Mare Imbrium (cont'd
8 Questions About the Moon Answered
Planet Earth and lunar moon from space
Where Did the Moon Come From?
A 3d tour of Earth's Moon.
What Have We Left on the Moon?
Discover
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon, 1972
Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon, 1972 Apollo 17 geologist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt at the foot of a huge split boulder, December 13, 1972, during the mission's third extravehicular exploration of the Taurus-Littrow Valley landing site on the Moon.

Taurus-Littrow Valley

lunar region
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/place/Taurus-Littrow-Valley
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written by
James D. Burke
Member, Technical Staff, Spacecraft Systems Engineering, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Technical Editor The Planetary Report.
James D. Burke
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History

Taurus-Littrow Valley, region on the Moon where the Apollo 17 lunar mission landed. Located at 22° N 31° E, it is named for the surrounding Taurus Mountains, a part of the ramparts of the Serenitatis Basin (Mare Serenitatis) impact structure, and for the nearby 30-km- (19-mile-) diameter crater Littrow.

The site was chosen because it had geologic features promising a varied collection of images, samples, and other data from both ancient highland and younger volcanic areas. In December 1972, after descending to the Moon, Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan and geologist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt deployed their lunar rover and traveled for a total of 36 km (22 miles) on three separate excursions around the valley, retrieving samples that had come downslope from the nearby highlands and collecting specimens of the variegated, titanium-rich mare basalt rocks and soils filling the valley. They also collected samples of orange and black glass indicative of ancient volcanic “fire fountains” (eruptive gouts of lava) on the Moon. Sample analyses conducted on Earth interpreted the highland rocks as parts of the material excavated by the enormous impact that created the Serenitatis Basin. Some rocks from the Taurus-Littrow site, which is crossed by one of the rays of material ejected from the impact that formed the comparatively young crater Tycho, suggested an age for the crater of about 100 million years. The complex geologic history of the Taurus-Littrow region makes it a prime target for future scientific landing and roving missions on the Moon.

James D. Burke