Apollo 8 Imaged Joliot Crater During December 1968 Lunar Orbits

Summary: Apollo 8 imaged Joliot Crater during December 1968 lunar orbits conducted by the first three humans to travel to another astronomical body.

High-altitude, oblique view, looking northeastward across lunar far side, shows Joliot Crater (center left), dark-floored Lomonosov Crater (center right) and bright-rayed Giordano Bruno (below Lomonosov); Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1968, photograph taken from Apollo 8 spacecraft; NASA ID AS08-12-2209; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Video Library

Apollo 8 imaged Joliot Crater during December 1968 lunar orbits conducted by the first human-crewed mission to journey to another astronomical body.

Crater Joliot is situated in a lava-flooded area to the north-northeast of Mare Marginis on the far side of the moon. As viewed from the moon, Joliot Crater occupies the far side’s northwestern quadrant, along the western limb. A favorable libration brings Joliot into view along the near side’s eastern limb for Earth-based moonwatchers.

Joliot Crater is centered at 25.79 degrees north latitude, 93.39 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 28.64 degrees north and 22.94 degrees north, respectively. Joliot obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 96.55 degrees east and 90.22 degrees east, respectively. The lunar impact crater’s diameter spans 172.79 kilometers.

Joliot parents one satellite. Joliot P lies to the south-southwest of its parent. The satellite is centered at 22.34 degrees north latitude, 91.99 degrees east longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes narrowly touch 22.54 degrees north and 22.15 degrees north, respectively. The satellite petitely marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 92.2 degrees east and 91.78 degrees east, respectively. Joliot P’s diameter measures 11.82 kilometers.

Two primary craters are attached to Joliot Crater’s rim. Lyapunov Crater hugs Joliot’s western rim. Rayleigh Crater snuggles against Joliot’s northwestern rim.

Lyapunov is centered at 12.7 degrees north latitude, 86.52 degrees east longitude. The lunar impact crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to 27.54 degrees north and 25.31 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 90.61 degrees east and 88.12 degrees east, respectively. Lyapunov has a diameter of 67.58 kilometers.

Lyapunov is attached to the south-southeastern rim of Rayleigh Crater, the other crater adjoining Joliot. Rayleigh is centered at 29.12 degrees north latitude, 89.45 degrees east longitude. Rayleigh obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 31 degrees north and 27.24 degrees north, respectively. The lunar impact crater marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 91.59 degrees east and 87.3 degrees, respectively. Rayleigh’s diameter measures 113.77 kilometers.

Joliot Crater’s namesake is Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie (March 19, 1900-Aug. 14, 1958). In 1935, the French chemist and physicist was jointly awarded the Noble Prize in Chemistry with his wife, Irène Joliot-Curie (Sept. 12, 1897-March 17, 1956), for their discovery of induced radioactivity, also known as artificial radioactivity or manmade radioactivity. French chemist and physicist Irène Joliot-Curie was the elder daughter of Noble Prize winners Marie Skłodowska Curie (Nov. 7, 1867-July 4, 1934) and Pierre Curie (May 15, 1859-April 19, 1906). Irène and Jean combined their surnames to form Joliot-Curie as their married surname.

The crater’s name of Joliot-Curie was approved at the IAU’s Eleventh General Assembly, held in Berkeley, California, from Tuesday, Aug. 15, to Thursday, Aug. 24, 1961. The crater’s name was truncated to Joliot during the Fourteenth General Assembly, held in Brighton, United Kingdom, from Monday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 27, 1970.

Crater Lyapunov’s namesake is Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (June 6, 1857-Nov. 3, 1918). The Russian mathematician is credited with developing the stability theory of a dynamical system. The IAU approved the crater’s name during the organization’s Twelfth General Assembly, held in Hamburg, Germany, from Tuesday, Aug. 25, to Thursday, Sept. 3, 1964.

Crater Rayleigh honors John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (Nov. 12, 1842-June 30, 1919). The British physicist received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904 for his research on important gas densities and for his discovery of argon (chemical symbol Ar; atomic number 18), the third most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere. The crater’s name joined Lyapunov Crater in receiving official approval during the IAU’s twelfth General Assembly.

Apollo 8 launched Saturday, Dec. 21, 1968, as the first human-crewed, lunar orbiting mission. The mission’s Command-Service Module (CSM) 103 made 10 lunar orbits between Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, and Christmas, Wednesday, Dec. 25. Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) William Alison Anders (born Oct. 17, 1933) was tasked as the mission’s official photographer. Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928) commanded the mission. James “Jim” Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928) crewed as the Command Module Pilot (CMP).

The takeaway for Apollo 8’s image of Joliot Crater during the mission’s December 1968 lunar orbits is that the impact crater's placement along the lunar far side's western limb allows for visibility to Earth-based moonwatchers during favorable librations.

Detail of Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) 46 shows Joliot Crater, with attached primary craters Lyapunov and Rayleigh to the west (left) and satellite Joliot P to the south (below); scale 1:1,000,000; Mercator Projection: United States Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) via USGS/Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

High-altitude, oblique view, looking northeastward across lunar far side, shows Joliot Crater (center left), dark-floored Lomonosov Crater (center right) and bright-rayed Giordano Bruno (below Lomonosov); Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1968, photograph taken from Apollo 8 spacecraft; NASA ID AS08-12-2209; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as08-12-2209;
No known copyright restrictions, via GetArchive NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) & DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Public Domain Archive @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as08-12-2209-apollo-8-apollo-8-mission-image-joliot-curie-lomonosov-e46a92;
NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, No copyright maintained, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth @ https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS08&roll=12&frame=2209;
Project Apollo Archive (Apollo Image Gallery), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21879350378;
Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS08-12-2209_(21879350378).jpg

Detail of Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) 46 shows Joliot Crater, with attached primary craters Lyapunov and Rayleigh to the west (left) and satellite Joliot P to the south (below); scale 1:1,000,000; Mercator Projection: United States Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) via USGS/Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_46_wac.pdf

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