Taurus-Littrow is a lunar valley located on the Lunar near side at the coordinates 20°00′N 31°00′E / 20.0°N 31.0°E / 20.0; 31.0 that served as the landing site for the American Apollo 17 mission, the last manned mission to the Moon to date.[1][2]
The valley is located on the southeastern edge of Mare Serenitatis along a ring of mountains formed between 3.8 and 3.9 billion years ago when a large object impacted the Moon, forming Mare Serenitatis and pushing rock outward and upward. Taurus-Littrow is located in the Taurus mountain range and south of Littrow crater, features after which the valley received its name. The valley was named by the crew of Apollo 17, and was subsequently adopted by the IAU in 1973.[1]
The Taurus-Littrow valley is geologically diverse in that during its formation, lavas welled upward from the Moon's interior. As a result of this, rock and soil samples from the area that were collected by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt gave insight to the natural history and geologic timeline of the Moon.
Somewhere between 100 and 200 million years after the Serenitatis basin and Taurus-Littrow formed, the lavas that began to seep through the lunar crust began to flood the low-lying areas. These lava flows were often accompanied by fire fountains that blanketed the surrounding area with tiny glass beads. These beads were sometimes colored orange, explaining the orange soil discovered by the Apollo 17 astronauts. Most of these beads, however, where darkly colored, resulting in the dark appearance of the Serenitatis basin from Earth.
The valley itself is elongated along an axis that points toward the center of Mare Serenitatis. Large massifs are located on either side of the valley, called the North and South Massifs, respective to their geographic location in relation to each other. The height of these massifs give the valley a depth greater than that of the Grand Canyon in the United States. Along the South Massif lies Bear Mountain, named after a mountain of the same name near Harrison Schmitt's hometown of Silver City, New Mexico. The sculptured hills make up the east edge of the valley. To the west, the North and South massifs funnel into the main outlet of the valley into Mare Serenitatis, partially blocked by Family mountain.[1]
