NASA-related nicknames
This alphabetical list is an appendix to Phil Stooke's most interesting LPOD US-1 and Other Signposts, which shows an equatorial map of the moon and a bonanza of unofficial nicknames (signposts for the manned orbital mission of Apollo 10 and the manned landing mission of Apollo 11).
The nicknamed formations are located at the lower parts of Rukl's maps 35, 36, and 37, and the upper parts of maps 46, 47, and 48.
Many of the nicknamed surface formations in the ABC are easy targets for common and powerful telescopes. Some of them are observable through not-too-small binoculars! (such as, for example; Barbara Mesa, Lonesome Mesa, Mount Marilyn).
A very good source to get the whole collection of these NASA-related nicknames is the online LROC ACT-REACT QUICK MAP. The nomenclature-overlay for the nearside's eastern equatorial zone shows all of them!
A small number of unofficial Farside names, mentioned in NASA's Preliminary Science Report books (Project Apollo), are also included in this alphabetic gazetteer.
Additional research: Danny Caes
A
- Apollo Ridge (east-southeast of Lubbock S)
- Apollo Rille (the pronounced fork-shaped part of Rimae Secchi, southeast of Secchi) (orbital close up of the Apollo Rille: AS11-42-6307) (orbital overviews of the Apollo Rille and its surroundings: AS10-33-4905, AS10-31-4517, AS10-32-4739)
B
- Barbara Mesa (southeast of Maskelyne D) (once called Promontorium Acutum by Cassini) (this is a very easy target for observers with all sorts of telescopes, and even binoculars!) (orbital close up of Barbara Mesa: AS10-31-4528) (who was Barbara?) (could have been the wife of Apollo 10 astronaut John Young)
- Bear Mountain (north of Maskelyne A, at the northern part of its rim, possibly Maskelyne Alpha) (note that there's more than one Bear Mountain, the other is located at the South Massif near Apollo 17's landingsite in the valley of Taurus-Littrow).
- Bob's Bend (the "hook" Maskelyne D, northwest of Barbara Mesa) (who was Bob?) (perhaps a certain Robert from Mission Control?)
- Boot Hill (Maskelyne Theta, the boot-shaped hill south of Maskelyne) (orbital close up of Boot Hill: AS11-42-6318) (orbital view of both Boot Hill and Duke Island: AS10-28-4042) (Apollo 10's Command/Service Module "in between" Boot Hill and Duke Island: AS10-29-4170)
Additional note by Jim Mosher:
- "Boot Hill" may indeed refer to a boot-shaped hill; but in the folklore of the American Wild West (which the astronauts seem to have drawn on for many of their other landmark nicknames) "Boot Hill" is a generic name for the cemetery or burying ground just outside of town where the bad (and good) guys come to rest. In that case I think it refers more to the boots of the deceased than to the shape of the terrain.
C
- (The) Cape (Secchi Alpha, north of Lubbock M) (an easy target for small telescopes) (The Cape is noticeable at left from CSM Columbia in AS11-37-5446)
- Cape Bruce (the "hook" northwest of Censorinus) (orbital close ups of Cape Bruce: AS10-29-4293, AS11-42-6316) (who was Bruce?) (perhaps astronaut Bruce McCandless II; one of the CAPCOMs during the mission of Apollo 11)
- Cape Venus (Maskelyne Zeta, northeast of Saint Theresa) (an easy target for small telescopes) (Cape Venus is noticeable near the upper margin of AS11-37-5446)
- Cat's Paw (immediately west-northwest of Statio Tranquillitatis; the landingsite of Apollo 11) (Cat's Paw is probably the nearest one of the observable or webcam-able craterlets around the landingsite of Apollo 11)
- Chain Gulch (northeast of Collins)
- Chama Peak (northeast of Lubbock M)
- Chuck Hole (west of Moltke, in U.S. Highway Number One) (who was Chuck?) (perhaps one of the guys at mission control, a certain Charles?)
D
- Dark Crater (officially unnamed small crater southeast of Sabine) (seems to have been known as Sabine AD on SLC-chart B5) (System of Lunar Craters) (received no letter designation on Chart 58 in the Times Atlas of the Moon)
- Diamondback Rille (east of Maskelyne G). AS10-29-4307 shows the Diamondback Rille and Maskelyne G, Maskelyne X (bowl-shaped crater in foreground)
- Dry Gulch (west of Dorsa Cato)
- Duke Island (Maskelyne Phi, the hillock southwest of Boot Hill) (orbital close up of Duke Island: AS11-42-6319) (orbital view of both Duke Island and Boot Hill: AS10-28-4042) (Apollo 10's Command/Service Module "Charlie Brown" with both Boot Hill and Duke Island in the background: AS10-29-4170) (was Duke perhaps astronaut Charles Duke?) (one of the CAPCOMs during the mission of Apollo 11)
Wikipedia page Duke Island
E
- Eskola (farside crater Vesalius M, at 5° South/ 115° East). This crater was named Eskola in NASA's APOLLO 17 PRELIMINARY SCIENCE REPORT, Page 28-9. Eskola was possibly Pentti Eskola, 1883-1964, Finnish geologist.
F
- Faye Ridge (north of Thud Ridge) (who was Faye?) (perhaps the wife of Apollo 10 astronaut Thomas Stafford)
- Furnace Gulch (between Taruntius B and Dorsa Cato)
G
- (The) Gashes (an irregular cluster of small depressions east-northeast of Moltke)
- Gemini Ridge (between Dorsa Cato and Messier B)
- Gemini Twins (southwest of Maskelyne D)
H, I, J, K
(none)
L
- Last Ridge (between craters Armstrong and Collins, a bit nearer to Collins and slightly south of both craters) (the name Last Ridge is not mentioned in Phil Stooke's chart)
- Little Moltke (Moltke B, in the eastern fork-shaped part of U.S. Highway Number One, west of Thud Ridge)
- Lonesome Mesa (north-northeast of Maskelyne A, north of Low Mesa) (together with Barbara Mesa and Mount Marilyn these NASA-nicknamed formations of the Apollo era are very easy targets for small telescopes and binoculars!)
- Lost Basin (northwest of Censorinus X)
- Lost Crater (Secchi X)
- Lost Valley (east-northeast of Hypatia C)
- Low Mesa (east of Maskelyne P and Bear Mountain, south of Lonesome Mesa) (some sort of bay of low-albedo mare material)
M
- Mount Marilyn (the peninsula Secchi Theta, see the Nomenclature section in the page Montes Secchi) (Mount Marilyn is probably the most telescope-friendly surface formation which was named by an Apollo astronaut) (Marilyn seems to have been the wife of Apollo 8 astronaut James Lovell) (orbital close up of Mount Marilyn: AS10-31-4521, Kipp Teague's Hi-Res scan) (Lunar Orbiter 1 photograph of Mount Marilyn: LO-I-041 med; the pronounced peninsula near the frame's lower right corner)
N, O, P, Q
(none)
R
- Roosa (the farside crater officially known as Necho was informally called Roosa on page 28-9 (figure 28-8) of NASA's APOLLO 17 PRELIMINARY SCIENCE REPORT. On that photograph (fig 28-8) the name Necho was printed on a nameless crater west of Becvár. Roosa was possibly Stuart A. Roosa (1933-1994), NASA astronaut, Command Module Pilot of Apollo 14)
- Ruin Basin (the peculiar "8"-shaped formation near the craterlet Censorinus J) (orbital overview of the Censorinus region with the "8"-shaped Ruin Basin near the upper left corner: AS10-32-4845)
S
- Saint Theresa (north of Censorinus Y, southwest of Cape Venus) (Saint Theresa is not included on the nomenclature overlay of the LROC Act-React Quick Map)
- SAR, or S.A.R. (between farside craters King and Tsiolkowsky) (mentioned in the APOLLO 16 PRELIMINARY SCIENCE REPORT)
- Sidewinder Rille (north-northwest of Censorinus K) (AS10-29-4299HR shows the Sidewinder Rille, and Thud Ridge in the distance at left, source HR scan: Apollo 10 Flight Journal, David Woods)
- Smokey Basin (Lubbock S) (an easy target for small telescopes)
- Smokey Valley (south-southeast of Lubbock P)
- Snake Ridge (north of Maskelyne B)
- SP-crater (Censorinus A) (what was SP?)
- Star Crater (northwest of Secchi X)
- Statio Tranquillitatis (official name for the landingsite of Apollo 11)
T
- Thud Ridge (east of Moltke B) (the eastern "stop" of Rima Hypatia, aka U.S. Highway Number One)
- (The) Triangle (south of Aldrin)
- (The) Trio (south of Sabine C, west of Apollo 11's landing site, Statio Tranquillitatis)
- Twin Craters (according to Phil Stooke this should have been Secchi U and an unnamed crater west of it) (the name Twin Craters is not included on the nomenclature overlay of the LROC Act-React Quick Map)
- Twin Craters Ridge (north of Secchi U, one of the Twin Craters) (the name Twin Craters Ridge is not included on Phil Stooke's chart)
U
- U.S.-1 / U.S. Highway Number One (the southern part of Rimae Hypatia) (the northwestern part was nicknamed Wagon Road)
V
(none)
W
- Wagon Road (the northwestern part of Rimae Hypatia, southeast of Sabine) (the southern part of Rimae Hypatia was called U.S.-1 / U.S. Highway Number One)
- Wash Basin (Maskelyne W)
- Weatherford (slightly northwest of Mount Marilyn) (see also Weatherford - Oklahoma) (related to Thomas P. Stafford, astronaut of the orbital lunar mission Apollo 10)
- Worm Rille (west-northwest of Moltke, north of Chuck Hole)
- Wright Brothers (nowadays known as Kiess and Widmannstatten, a pair of craters in Mare Smythii)
X, Y
(none)
Z
- (The) Z (east-northeast of Statio Tranquillitatis)
