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35-460: To the southwest of this mountain is a valley that served as the landing site for the Apollo 15 expedition. To the southwest of this same valley is the slightly smaller Mons Hadley Delta (δ) peak with a height of about 3.5 km above the valley floor. Mons Hadley Delta was visited and sampled by the astronauts, but Mons Hadley itself was only photographed from the surface. To the west of these peaks

70-511: A free-return trajectory should the Apollo Service Module engine fail. After Apollo 12 demonstrated the ability to land with some degree of precision at a pre-specified landing site, mission planners considered landings in rough, but geologically interesting areas of the Moon. The aborted Apollo 13 mission was originally scheduled to land at Fra Mauro, with Apollo 14 scheduled to land in

105-501: A direct affiliation with the landing site, as it is located in a valley between ridges, and there exists the possibility that the basalts were merely deposited there as a result of other impact events. The Apollo 14 crew members sampled boulders in the ejecta of Cone crater. These boulders appeared to be layered and fractured breccias , contrasting from the appearance of the surrounding area because of their older age. As these boulders increase in size and number closer to Cone crater, it

140-407: A more optimal configuration for seismic study. The Apennine mountains are hypothesized to be fault-block mountains displaced upward and segmented by the impact that formed Mare Imbrium. The frontal escarpment of Mons Hadley Delta is believed to be an exposed segment of the pre-Imbrium impact lunar crust. This made the mountain one of the mission's primary locations to visit, as doing so would allow

175-486: A mountain range, and Hadley Rille, a meandering channel, on the east and west, respectively. Data obtained from the composition of soil samples collected on Apollo 15 show that most (about 90%) of the samples from the Apennine Front are brown- glass breccias , and approximately 60–70% obtained from the mare surface are basalt . Although the basalts seem to vary in their texture, their ages appear to be approximately

210-600: A thick regolith layer on the lower slopes of the mountains and a thin cover of debris on the upper slopes are suggested by the relative absence of large boulders on the lower mountain flanks. Rima Hadley, a sinuous rille located west of the Apollo 15 landing site, begins in an area of low domes at an elongated crater, Béla , and runs on to the North along the Apennine Mountain Range. Some research has suggested that both

245-571: Is a region on the near side of Earth's Moon that served as the landing site for the American Apollo 15 mission, the fourth crewed landing on the Moon and the first of the " J-missions ", in July 1971. The site is located on the eastern edge of Mare Imbrium on a lava plain known as Palus Putredinis . Hadley–Apennine is bordered by the Montes Apenninus (often referred to as "Apennine Front"),

280-526: Is believed that they originate from the greatest depth of excavation of Cone crater. These boulders show what is believed to be general characteristics of the Fra Mauro formation: clastic texture , stratification , and jointing or fracturing. As Apollo 14 was an early Apollo mission, consideration for landing sites was restricted to equatorial regions in order to enable the Moon-bound spacecraft to remain on

315-531: Is covered with debris from younger impacts and material churned up by possible moonquakes . Debris found in the formation may have originated from deep beneath the original crust, and samples collected there could give insight into the geologic history of the Moon. The petrology of the formation, based on data obtained on Apollo 14, indicates a history of impact and ejection possibly spanning over approximately 500 million years. A relatively recent impact created Cone crater, 1,000 feet across and 250 feet deep, near

350-451: Is no more than about 4.25 billion years old. Fra Mauro is a widespread hilly geological area covering large portions of the lunar surface around Mare Imbrium, and is thought to be composed of ejecta from the impact which formed Imbrium. The area is primarily composed of relatively low ridges and hills, between which exist undulating valleys. Much of the ejecta blanket from the Imbrium impact

385-527: Is the sinuous Rima Hadley rille . These features were named after the English mathematician John Hadley (1682–1744). This sinuous lunar rille follows a course generally to the northeast, toward the Mons Hadley peak, for which it is named. This feature is centered at selenographic coordinates 25.0° N, 3.0° E, and lies within a diameter of 80 km. It begins at the crater Béla, an elongated formation with

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420-431: Is thought to have been formed from ejecta , or debris, from the impact which formed Mare Imbrium . During Apollo 14, the crew members sampled ejecta from Cone crater, a feature close in proximity to the immediate landing site of the mission, which provided insight into the composition of material deep inside the formation. Data from the mission has helped to determine the approximate age of Mare Imbrium, suggesting that it

455-466: The Himalayan front above the plains of India and Nepal . Hadley Rille (also referred to as Rima Hadley) is located to the west of the Apollo 15 landing site and was the subject of substantial investigation during that mission. The feature, named from nearby Mons Hadley , is a channel that was likely formed by volcanic processes earlier in the history of the Moon . The American Apollo 15 mission,

490-562: The Littrow region of Mare Serenitatis . After Apollo 13 failed to land, mission planners decided to re-target Apollo 14 to Fra Mauro, as they regarded Fra Mauro as more interesting scientifically than the Littrow site. There, Apollo 14 had the objective of sampling ejecta from the Imbrium impact to gain insight into the Moon's geologic history . Mission planners chose a landing site near the relatively freshly formed Cone crater, as this crater served as

525-522: The Apollo 14 landing site within Fra Mauro: the immediate impact blanket of Cone crater, about 25 million years old, and surrounding older terrain. During Apollo 14, astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell recovered ejecta material from the Cone crater impact, which is believed to have excavated Imbrium impact material from a possible depth of about 80 m (260 ft). Most of the samples returned from

560-426: The Apollo 15 astronauts were to visit this feature, they were unable to do so due to time constraints and time-consuming issues in obtaining core samples . 26°07′56″N 3°38′02″E  /  26.13222°N 3.63386°E  / 26.13222; 3.63386 Fra Mauro formation The Fra Mauro formation (or Fra Mauro Highlands ) is a formation on the near side of Earth's Moon that served as

595-421: The Apollo 15 mission, there are parallel linear patterns on the faces of the mountains in the area. Although they appeared to be occurrences of fracturing or layering appearing through the regolith, determining this is made difficult by the lighting circumstances during the mission. A dark band on Mount Hadley, believed to be a marking left by lava after receding, was observed by the Apollo 15 crew. Additionally,

630-471: The Moon from Fra Mauro are classified as breccias from the vicinity of Cone crater. Studies conducted upon samples from Apollo 14 have shown that the samples do not support the possibility that the landing site is floored by volcanic rocks, or basalts . Basalts are sparse in samples of Cone crater ejecta, but somewhat abundant in samples recovered farther west, on the opposite side of the immediate landing site. Two explanations have been presented for this: (1)

665-494: The area. Apollo 15 was the first mission in which landing sites were not restricted to equatorial areas. The Hadley–Apennine site was chosen with the specific objectives of sampling material from deeper within the Moon than had been obtained from the Fra Mauro formation on Apollo 14 and investigating Hadley Rille, a sinuous rille possibly formed by volcanic activity. The site had been of interest to mission planners since early in

700-521: The astronauts to obtain samples of the lunar crust as it was before the creation of Mare Imbrium. The area of the Apennine mountains between Mons Hadley and Silver Spur (a mountain just southeast of Mons Hadley Delta), although lacking an official designation on maps and other official mission literature, was informally referred to as the "Swann Range" by Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin , after mission geology team leader Gordon Swann. One of

735-417: The bottom of the rille are believed to be blocks that have broken off of the outcrops above. The South Cluster, a crater cluster located to the south of the Apollo 15 site near Mons Hadley Delta, is believed to have formed as a result of a secondary impact , or the impact of ejecta /debris from a larger impact elsewhere on the Moon, probably the crater Autolycus about 100 mi (160 km) northwest of

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770-509: The cluster's location. This meant that the Apollo 15 astronauts were able to sample material from other parts of the lunar surface without traversing a great distance. The feature also allowed the astronauts to sample material that was originally located deep within the Moon. The south rim of Dune crater within the cluster was visited by the astronauts. The North Complex is a collection of several landforms, including craters, that were thought to have been formed by volcanic activity. Although

805-474: The collapse of a shallow magma chamber . Visual observation suggests that the same is the case with other lunar rilles with similar features at their beginnings. Rima Hadley typically ranges in depth between 600 and 900 feet (180 and 270 m), but is approximately 1,200 feet (370 m) deep at the Apollo 15 landing site. The feature has a cumulative length of about 80 kilometres (50 mi) and an average width of about 0.75 miles (1.21 km). The sides of

840-619: The first of the J-series missions that featured both increased scientific capability and the use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle , landed in an area of the Hadley–Apennine region to the west of the Apennine Front situated between the mountains Mons Hadley and Mons Hadley Delta to the northeast and south, respectively. This landing site was selected with the objectives of exploring the Apennine Front, Hadley Rille, and other geologic features in

875-472: The landing site for the American Apollo 14 mission in 1971. It is named after the 80-kilometer-diameter crater Fra Mauro , located within it. The formation, as well as Fra Mauro crater, take their names from a 15th-century Italian monk and mapmaker of the same name. Apollo 13 was originally scheduled to land in the Fra Mauro highlands, but was unable due to an in-flight technical failure. Fra Mauro

910-649: The landing site of Apollo 14. One of the main objectives of that mission was to sample the original Imbrium material located on its rim. Samples obtained of the Fra Mauro formation during Apollo 14 suggest that the impact that formed the Imbrium basin is no older than 4.25 billion years. Analysis of Apollo 14 samples suggests that there are five major geologic constituents present in the immediate landing area: regolith breccias , fragmental breccias, igneous lithologies , granulitic lithologies, and impact - melt lithologies. Samples of each of these compositions were recovered in one or both of two major surface units of

945-547: The long axis oriented to the northwest. Four small craters near this rille have been assigned names by the IAU . These are listed in the table below. By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Mons Hadley. The crater Joy was formerly known as Hadley A, prior to being renamed by the IAU in 1973. Hadley%E2%80%93Apennine (Moon) Hadley–Apennine

980-408: The majority of basalt in the landing site lies below the depth of excavation of Cone crater or (2) the presence of a basalt flow beneath the landing area excavated by a nearby crater with a diameter of 100 m (330 ft). It is believed that the former seems more likely, as the basalts are similar to the basalts recovered at Cone crater. It is inconclusive whether or not the recovered basalts have

1015-476: The most defined sinuous rilles on the lunar surface. Outcrops of rock were observed by the Apollo 15 crew on both the near and far sides of the rille and were photographed and, in the case of outcrops on the near rim, were sampled. Layering in these outcrops is evident from the photos taken of them by the crew. Some of the strata observed have thicknesses of up to about 60 metres (200 ft) and appear to vary in albedo (reflectivity) and texture. Large boulders near

1050-557: The mountains in the Swann Range was informally referred to by the astronauts as "Big Rock Mountain", after the Apollo Program Director at the time of the mission, Rocco Petrone . The composition of the samples collected by the Apollo 15 astronauts from the Apennine Front, other than KREEP ( potassium , rare-earth elements , phosphorus ) materials, included anorthosite , and recrystallized norite and breccia. Unknown before

1085-452: The program. During the early stages of Apollo landing site planning, Apollo 19 (which was originally planned to be the fourth and penultimate J-mission of the initial exploration portion of the Apollo program) was tentatively set to land in the Hadley–Apennine region, albeit at a point south of the eventual Apollo 15 site and west of Hadley Rille—near the Carlos pit at the southwestern terminus of

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1120-425: The rille and Béla are volcanic vents , and lava flows created the features. Another hypothesis suggests that the rille was originally a lava tube , the roof of which collapsed, creating the current appearance of the rille. Several large boulders, some of which are as large as houses, are strewn about the feature's floor. The elongated crater Béla, which forms the beginning of Rima Hadley, could have been formed by

1155-410: The rille, at the Apollo 15 site, slope downwards at an angle of about 25 degrees. Before samples were returned from the Moon during the Apollo program , several scientists believed that the feature and other similar features were formed by flowing water. This hypothesis has since been changed, however, to attribute the process of the feature's creation to volcanism. Rima Hadley is interpreted as one of

1190-524: The rille. The Marius Hills area in Oceanus Procellarum was also considered for Apollo 15, but mission planners determined that a landing on the edge of Mare Imbrium at the Hadley–Apennine site would be more scientifically fruitful than the Marius Hills alternative, and placing a seismometer at Hadley–Apennine, given the locations of seismic packages from previous Apollo expeditions, would create

1225-456: The same. Most of the samples obtained on the Apennine Front are KREEP ( potassium , rare-earth elements , phosphorus ) materials, anorthosites , recrystallized norite , or recrystallized breccia. Hadley–Apennine is located west of the Montes Apenninus and east of Hadley Rille. The Apennine mountains form a 15,000 foot (4,600 m) escarpment that rises higher above the Hadley plain than

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