Earth and Space News: March 2014

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Eastern Narrow-Mouthed Toads: Dark Fat Body, Pointed Snout, Short Legs

Summary: North American eastern narrow-mouthed toad habitats get dark-and-pale-marked fat bodies with pointed snouts, speckled heads, small round-pupiled eyes, webless toes and single-spaded hindlimbs.

eastern narrow-mouthed toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis), with fold behind eyes apparent; Florida Panhandle: Jeromi Hefner/USGS National Wetlands Research Center (now USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center), Public Domain, via USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI)

North American eastern narrow-mouthed habitats adopt lower midwestern and southeastern distribution ranges in the United States from Maryland southward and westward through Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia and everywhere in-between.

Eastern narrow-mouthed toads bear their common name for eastern biogeographies; ant-, beetle- and termite-eating adaptations; and Microhylidae arboreal, burrowing and terrestrial frog and toad family membership. The scientific name Gastrophryne carolinensis combines the Greek words γαστήρ (gastēr, "belly," "stomach") and φρύνη (phrunē, "toad") and the Latin carolinensis ([specimen collected in South] Carolina). Taxonomic designations derive from scientific descriptions in 1835 by John Edwards Holbrook (Dec. 31, 1796-Sep. 8, 1871) of bark- and fence-loving specimens from Charleston, South Carolina.

Eastern narrow-mouthed toad life cycles expect bottomland forests; coastal dune scrublands; debris-scattered, grass-clumped and log-strewn hideaways; permanent and temporary pools with floating vegetation, pinewoods and prairies.

March through October fit breeding months into eastern narrow-mouthed toad life cycles despite predatory copperheads, cottonmouths, fish, garter snakes, glossy watersnakes, grackles, raccoons and water bugs.

Eastern narrow-mouthed toads go on large sticky toe pads and long legs from bushes, shrubs and trees to breeding bayous, ditches, lakes, ponds, pools and swamps. Matched filtering helps them hear, despite mixed-species choruses, by calls having frequency ranges that vibrate two circular tympanic-membraned eardrums and the inner-ear's amphibian and basilar papillae. Closed-mouth, closed-nostril advertisement, similar courtship and rain and similar aggression and release calls impel air streams from lung expirations over vocal cords and inflate vocal sacs.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, fertilizer runoff, globally warmed climate change, non-native species, toxic pesticides, trematode fluke-induced deformities and ultraviolet radiation jeopardize North American eastern narrow-mouthed toad habitats.

Three hundred to 4,000-egg clusters and, four to 14 days later, gill-breathing, keel-tailed tadpoles keep to water whereas legged, lung-breathing, tailless adults know land and water.

Eastern narrow-mouthed toads look like 0.17- to 0.22-inch (4.5- to 5.5-millimeter), herbivorous (plant-eating) fish and little-legged, long-tailed, 2.36-plus-inch (60-plus-millimeter) carnivores (flesh-eaters) 25 to 45 days later. The male manages axillary amplexus (armpit embrace) by maintaining forelimbs behind his mate's front legs while mounted on her back to fertilize dark, sticky eggs externally. Tadpoles need algae, organic debris, plant tissue and suspended matter even though beetles, caterpillars, crickets, flies, mosquitoes, moths, pillbugs, sowbugs, spiders, stinkbugs and worms nourish adults.

North American eastern narrow-mouthed toad habitats offer season-coldest temperatures, northward to southward, from minus 5 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20.55 to minus 3.88 degrees Celsius).

Bay laurel-, cypress- and emergent, floating, submerged, waterside grassy, herbaceous, weedy plant-dominated artificial and natural ditches, lakes, marshes, ponds, sloughs and swamps promote eastern narrow-mouthed toads.

Lang Elliott, Carl Gerhardt and Carlos Davidson quantify 0.875- to 2.5-inch (2.22- to 3.81-centimeter) snout-vent (excrementary opening) lengths in The Frogs and Toads of North America. Fat-bodied, fat-legged adults reveal pointed heads; gray- or red-brown upper surfaces with one dark center between two light bands; mottled abdomens; and white-speckled dark lower sides. Soft peeps and squeaks sound before or subsequent to bleating, buzzy, lamb-like, 1- to 3-second waaaaaaaaa! advertisement calls whereas harsh, slow, throaty brrrrrrrr calls signal aggression.

North American eastern narrow-mouthed toad habitats tender bleating, chunky, fat-legged, brown-gray-red-brown bodies with skin folds behind heads, mottled abdomens, black-marked, light-banded backs and white-specked dark sides.

eastern narrow-mouthed toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis) under synonym Engystoma carolinense; illustration by Italian-born scientific illustrator J. Sera, lithograph by George Lehman/Lehman & Duval Lithographers; J.E. Holbrook's North American Herpetology (1836), vol. I, Plate XI, opposite page 83: Public Domain via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Elliott, Lang; Carl Gerhardt; and Carlos Davidson. 2009. The Frogs and Toads of North America: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification, Behavior and Calls. Boston MA; New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Frost, Darrel. "Gastrophryne carolinensis (Holbrook, 1836)." American Museum of Natural History > Our Research > Vertebrate Zoology > Herpetology > Amphibian Species of the World Database.
Available @ http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/index.php//Amphibia/Anura/Microhylidae/Gastrophryninae/Gastrophryne/Gastrophryne-carolinensis

Holbrook, John Edwards, M.D. 1836. "Engystoma carolinense." North American Herpetology; Or, A Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. I: 83-84. Philadelphia PA: J. Dobson.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4075426

"The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map." The National Gardening Association > Gardening Tools > Learning Library USDA Hardiness Zone > USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Available @ https://garden.org/nga/zipzone/2012/

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Derain Quadrangle Is Tenth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Derain Quadrangle is the 10th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers equatorial and low latitudes longitudinally from 288 to 0 degrees.

Image obtained Oct. 6, 2008, by Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER robotic space probe's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) contrasts darkness of Derain Crater (center) and of rayed Berkel Crater (lower right) with two bright-rayed nearby craters (center right); image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington; image addition date 2010-10-12: via NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Photojournal

Derain Quadrangle is the 10th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's equatorial and low latitudes of 22 degrees south to 22 degrees north latitude, from 288 to 0 degrees west longitude.

As the 10th of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Derain Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-10 or H10. H denotes Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Derain Quadrangle's provisional name, Pieria, designates a light patch on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Pieria in the southern hemisphere's low latitudes on the map of Mercury's albedo features in his guide, La Planète Mercure, published in 1934 and translated into English by English amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (March 4, 1923-Dec. 9, 2012) in 1974 (figure 5, page 26). Pieria (Greek: Πιερία) references a regional unit in Northern Greece's historical province of Macedonia. The Odyssey, the ancient Greek epic poem composed around the eighth century BCE identified Pieria's Mount Pierus as the departure point for Hermes, as messenger of the gods, in his mission to inform nymph Calypso to release Trojan War survivor Odysseus, king of Ithaca, from his seven-year detention.

The names of Mercury's quadrangles conventionally associate with prominent local features. Derain Quadrangle's namesake is Derain Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) considers names of historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters for Mercury's craters. The crater's name, approved July 9, 2009, honors French artist André Derain (June 10, 1880-Sept. 8, 1954).

Derain Crater is centered at minus 9 degrees south latitude, 340.3 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 6.94 degrees south and minus 11.07 degrees south, respectively. It obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 338.2 degrees west and 342.39 degrees west, respectively. Derain Crater's diameter measures 167 kilometers.

Derain Crater occurs in southwestern Derain Quadrangle. The NASA-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory 's (JPL) online Photojournal post of Oct. 12, 2010, "Dark Doings at Derain," dated the first image of Derain Crater to NASA's second Mercury flyby, conducted Oct. 6, 2008, by MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) robotic space probe. The Photojournal post described Derain Crater's "uncommonly" dark halo and dark interior material as having ". . . the lowest reflectance yet identified . . ." on the Mercurian surface.

Ellington Crater lies to the southeast of Derain Crater. The crater's name, approved Apr 24, 2012, honors American composer, conductor and pianist Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (April 29, 1899-May 24, 1974).

Ellington Crater is centered at minus 12.88 degrees south latitude, 333.9 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 10.44 degrees south and minus 15.32 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 331.3 degrees west and 336.51 degrees west, respectively. Ellington Crater's diameter spans 216 kilometers.

Berkel Crater lies in southeastern Ellington Crater. Photojournal's Oct. 12, 2010, post noted the rayed crater's dark center and halo, which contrast with the absence of dark haloes in two bright-rayed northern neighbors. The crater's name, approved Jul 9, 2009, honors Turkish-Albanian modernist painter Sabri Berkel (March 21, 1907-Aug. 4, 1993).

Berkel Crater is centered at minus 13.73 degrees south latitude, 333.19 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 13.47 degrees south and minus 13.98 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 332.9 degrees west and 333.48 degrees west. Berkel Crater has a diameter of 23 kilometers.

Derain Quadrangle shares border with four neighbors. Hokusai Quadrangle (H-5) neighbor along Derain Quadrangle's northern border. Eminescu Quadrangle (H-9) occurs as Derain Quadrangle's eastern neighbor. Debussy Quadrangle (H-14) is contiguous with Derain Quadrangle's southern border. Derain Quadrangle's western neighbor is Kuiper Quadrangle (H-6).

The takeaways for Derain Quadrangle as the 10th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the equator-straddling quadrangle's namesake is dark haloed Derain Crater, which honors French artist André Derain; that Ellington Crater lies to the southeast of Derain Crater; that Berkel Crater, which occupies southeastern Ellington Crater, is a bright-rayed, dark-haloed crater; and that Derain Quadrangle shares borders with northern neighbor Hokusai Quadrangle, eastern neighbor Eminescu Quadrangle, southern neighbor Debussy Quadrange and western neighbor Kuiper Quadrangle.

Detail of Map of the H-10 (Derain) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the equatorial region's namesake, Derain Crater, with southeastern neighbor Ellington Crater and Berkel Crater on Ellington's southeastern floor; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's 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:

Antoniadi, E.M. (Eugène Michel). La Planète Mercure et la Rotation des Satellites. Paris, France: Gauthier-Villars, 1934.

Chapman, Clark R., David M.H. Baker; Olivier S. Barnouin; Caleb J. Fassett; Simone Marchi; William J. Merline; Lillian R. Ostrach; Louise M. Prockter; and Robert J. Strom. "Chapter 9: Impact Cratering of Mercury." Pages 217-248. In Sean C. Solomon; Larry R. Nittler; and Brian J. Anderson, eds., Mercury: The View After MESSENGER. Cambridge Planetary Science. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=4o92DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA217

Davies, Merton E.; Stephen E. Dwornik; Donald E. Gault; and Robert G. Strom. Atlas of Mercury. Special Publication SP-423. Prepared for the Office of Space Sciences. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-423/

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Berkel.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 7, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14576

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Surface Feature Categories.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Categories

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Coordinate Systems for Planets and Satellites.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Target Coordinate Systems.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/TargetCoordinates

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Derain.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14579

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Descriptor Terms (Feature Types).” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Ellington.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14957

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: Mercury.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MERCURY/target

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Xiao Zhao.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14392

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA12157: Locations of Mercury's Newly Named Craters." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2009-07-28.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12157

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA13488: Dark Doings at Derain." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2010-10-12.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13488

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA15478: Singin' in Derain." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2012-03-09.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15478

Marriner, Derdriu. "Beethoven Quadrangle Is Seventh of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/beethoven-quadrangle-is-seventh-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Borealis Quadrangle Is First of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/borealis-quadrangle-is-first-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Eminescu Quadrangle Is Ninth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 19, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/eminescu-quadrangle-is-ninth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Hokusai Quadrangle Is Fifth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/hokusai-quadrangle-is-fifth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kuiper Quadrangle Is Sixth of 15 Quadrangles of the Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/kuiper-quadrangle-is-sixth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Raditladi Quadrangle Is Fourth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/raditladi-quadrangle-is-fourth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Shakespeare Quadrangle Is Third of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/shakespeare-quadrangle-is-third-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Tolstoj Quadrangle Is Eighth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/tolstoj-quadrangle-is-eighth-of-15.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Victoria Quadrangle is Second of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/victoria-quadrangle-is-second-of-15.html

Talbert, Tricia, ed. "Dramatic Darks of Derain." NASA > Image Feature. April 16, 2015.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/dramatic-darks-of-derain

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Eminescu Quadrangle Is Ninth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Eminescu Quadrangle is the ninth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers equatorial and low latitudes longitudinally from 216 to 288 degrees.

High-resolution targeted observation obtained Jan. 3, 2012, by Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of MESSENGER spacecraft's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) shows brightly-haloed Eminescu Crater (center) with eastern neighbor Xiao Zhao Crater's rays (upper right); Eminescu's floor contrasts low reflectance of dark materials with bright ring of hollows at crater's center; bright hollows ring Eminescu's center; image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington; image addition date 2013-08-15: via NASA-JPL Photojournal

Eminescu Quadrangle is the ninth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's equatorial and low latitudes of 22 degrees south to 22 degrees north latitude, from 216 to 288 degrees west longitude.

As the ninth of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Eminescu Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-9 or H09. H represents Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Eminescu Quadrangle's provisional name, Solitudo Criophori, designates a dark patch on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Solitudo Criophori at the equatorial and northern low latitudes on the map of Mercury's albedo features in his guide, La Planète Mercure, published in 1934 and translated into English by English amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (March 4, 1923-Dec. 9, 2012) in 1974 (figure 5, page 26). Solitudo Criophori ("Desert of Criophorus") references the epithet of Hermes as the ram bearer, Hermes Kriophoros (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμῆς κριοφόρος).

The names of Mercury's quadrangles conventionally draw upon prominent local features. Eminescu Quadrangle's namesake is Eminescu Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has assigned the theme of names of historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters for Mercury's craters. Approved April 8, 2008, Eminescu Crater honors Romanian Romantic era poet Mihai Eminescu (born Mihail Eminovici; Jan. 15, 1850-June 15, 1889).

Eminescu Crater is centered at 10.66 degrees north latitude, 245.79 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere impact crater's northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 12.13 degrees north and 9.18 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 244.29 degrees west and 247.29 degrees west, respectively. Eminescu Crater's diameter measures 129 kilometers.

Eminescu Crater occurs in north central Eminescu Quadrangle. The NASA-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Photojournal post of April 17, 2008, "Now Introducing: Eminescu," described Eminescu as ". . . a particularly interesting crater . . ." The crater's central peaks exhibit a circular pattern termed a peak ring. Images obtained by the MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) robotic space probe's 11-color Wide Angle Camera (WAC) revealed ". . . unusual color characteristics . . ." in the crater's peaks. The small number of later superposed craters suggest a more recent formation for Eminescu than most of Mercury's craters.

Kunisada Crater lies to the south as Eminescu Crater's nearest named southern neighbor. The crater's name, which was approved Jul 9, 2009, honors Japanese ukiyo-e' (浮世絵, "picture[s] of the floating world") woodblock printmaker Utagawa Kunisada (1786-Jan. 12, 1864 or 1865).

Kunisada Crater is centered at 1.36 degrees north latitude, 247.14 degrees west longitude. The equator-straddling crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 4.19 degrees north and minus 1.48 degrees south. It records easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 244.31 degrees west and 249.98 degrees west, respectively. Kunisada Crater's diameter spans 241 kilometers.

A large interior crater is located to the south of Kunisada Crater's center. The NASA-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Photojournal post of Jan. 1, 2008, "Mercury's Violent History," studied an image of then-unnamed Kunisada Crater obtained by the Mercury Dual Imaging System's (MDIS) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) during MESSENGER's first Mercury flyby, Jan. 14, 2008. Onlaps, or embayments, of the interior crater's rim-surrounding ejecta blanket by infill suggest the "relatively fluid" state of the material that filled both craters.

Xiao Zhao Crater neighbors to the east of Eminescu Crater. The crater's name, which was approved Apr 8, 2008, honors 12th-century Chinese painter Xiao Zhao, who was active between 1130 and 1162.

Xiao Zhao Crater is centered at 10.58 degrees north latitude, 236.16 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 10.86 degrees north and 10.31 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 235.87 degrees west and 235.44 degrees west, respectively. Xiao Zhao Crater has a diameter of 24 kilometers.

Eminescu Quadrangle shares border with six neighbors. Raditladi Quadrangle (H-4) and Hokusai Quadrangle (H-5) neighbor along Eminescu Quadrangle's northern border. Tolstoj Quadrangle (H-8) aligns with Eminescu Quadrangle's eastern border. Neruda Quadrangle (H-13) and Debussy Quadrangle (H-14) shares Eminescu Quadrangle's southern border. Derain Quadrangle (H-10) is contiguous with Eminescu Quadrangle's western border.

The takeaways for Eminescu Quadrangle as the ninth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the equator-straddling quadrangle's namesake is 19th-century Romanian Romantic era poet Mihai Eminescu; that Eminescu Crater is located in north central Eminescu Quadrangle; that MESSENGER obtained first images of Eminescu Crater and southern neighbor Kunisada Crater during the robotic space probe's first flyby, Jan. 14, 2008; and that Raditladi and Hokusai quadrangles to the north, Tolstoj Quadrangle to the east, Neruda and Debussy quadrangles to the south, and Derain Quadrangle to the west number as Eminescu Quadrangle's six neighbors.

Detail of Map of the H-9 (Eminescu) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the equatorial region's namesake, Eminescu Crater, with eastern neighbor Xiao Zhao Crater and southern neighbor Kunisada Crater; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's 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:

Antoniadi, E.M. (Eugène Michel). La Planète Mercure et la Rotation des Satellites. Paris, France: Gauthier-Villars, 1934.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Eminescu.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14388

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Kunisada.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14585

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA10384: Mercury's Violent History." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2008-01-30.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10384

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA10610: Now Introducing: Eminescu." NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2008-04-17.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10610

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "PIA17409: Nebula? No, It's the Cat's Eye Crater!" NASA JPL Photojournal. Image addition date 2013-08-05.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17409

MESSENGER. "Dreaming of a White Christmas." The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) MESSENGER > Gallery. Dec. 25, 2013.
Available @ https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Explore/Science-Images-Database/gallery-image-1308.html

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Tolstoj Quadrangle Is Eighth of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Tolstoj Quadrangle is the eighth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers equatorial and low latitudes longitudinally from 144 to 216 degrees.

Geologic Map of the Tolstoj Quadrangle of Mercury shows area of equatorial region imaged by Mariner 10 spacecraft's three flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; March 16, 1975), with coverage of eastern two-thirds and notation of "area in darkness" for 190 to 216 degrees west longitude; Geologic Map of the Tolstoj Quadrangle of Mercury (1990) by Gerald G. Schaber and John F. McCauley, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Astropedia Web Portal

Tolstoj Quadrangle is the eighth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's equatorial and low latitudes of 22 degrees south to 22 degrees north latitude, from 144 degrees to 216 degrees west longitude.

As the eighth of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Tolstoj Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-8 or H08. H references Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Tolstoj Quadrangle's provisional name, Phaëthontias, designates a bright patch on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Phaëthontias in the southern low latitudes on the map of Mercury's albedo features in his guide, La Planète Mercure, published in 1934 and translated into English by English amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (March 4, 1923-Dec. 9, 2012) in 1974 (figure 5, page 26). Phaëthontias references Phaethon (Ancient Greek: Φαέθων), also spelled as Phaëthon, whom Greek mythology recognized as a demigod offspring of the sun god Helios and associated with the planet Jupiter.

Prominent local features conventionally supply the names of Mercury's quadrangles. Tolstoj Quadrangle's namesake is Tolstoj Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) themes Mercury's craters with the names of historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters. Approved in 1976, Tolstoj Crater honors Russian writer Count Lev Tolstoj (Sept. 9 [Old Style: Aug. 28], 1828-Nov. 20 [Old Style: Nov. 7], 1910).

Tolstoj Crater is centered at minus 16.23 degrees south latitude, 164.64 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere impact crater's northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to minus 12.05 degrees south and minus 20.4 degree south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 160.29 degrees west and 168.98 degrees west, respectively. Tolstoj Crater's diameter spans 355 kilometers.

Liszt Crater is located on Tolstoj Crater's western rim. Liszt Crater's name, approved in 1985, honors Romantic era Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt (Oct. 22, 1811-July 31, 1886).

Liszt Crater is centered at minus 16.13 degrees south latitude, 168.34 degrees west longitude. It records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 15.2 degrees south and minus 17.07 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 167.37 degrees west and 169.31 degrees west, respectively. Liszt Crater's diameter measures 79 kilometers.

Rublev Crater lies to the east of Tolstoj Crater's southeastern rim. Rublev Crater's name, approved in 1976, honors Russian medieval icon painter Andrey Rublev (ca. 1360-Oct. 17, 1428?).

Rublev Crater is centered at minus 15.12 degrees south latitude, 157.08 degrees west longitude. It obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 13.59 degrees south and minus 16.64 degrees south, respectively. It establishes its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 155.5 degrees west and 158.66 degrees west, respectively. Rublev Crater has a diameter of 129 kilometers.

Tolstoj Crater is sited near Tolstoj Quadrangle's southeastern corner. Its location near Tolstoj Quadrangle's southeastern corner places the large impact crater to the southeast of Tolstoj Quadrangle's central plain, Tir Planitia. Tir Planitia's name, approved in 1976, accords with the IAU convention of theming Mercury's plains (Latin: planitia (singular); planitiae (plural) around names for Mercury, as god or planet, in various languages. Tir derives from the Middle Persian word (تیر) for the planet Mercury.

Tir Planitia is centered at minus 1.04 degrees south latitude, 176.69 degrees west longitude. The largely southern hemisphere plain's northernmost and southernmost latitudes touch 7.78 degrees north latitude and minus 8.35 degrees south latitude, respectively. Tir Planitia's easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch to 170.3 degrees west and 183.75 degrees west, respectively. Tir Planitia's diameter spans 754 kilometers.

The southern expanses of Raditladi Quadrangle-centered Caloris Planitia ("Hot Plain") reach into Tolstoj Quadrangle.

Caloris Planitia is centered at 31.65 degrees north latitude, 198.02 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes span 48.6 degrees north to 15.54 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 176.3 degrees west and 217.97 degrees west, respectively. Caloris Planitia's diameter spans 1,500 kilometers.

Tolstoj Quadrangle's location qualifies the equator-straddling quadrangle for six neighbors. Shakespeare Quadrangle (H-3) and Raditladi Quadrangle (H-4) share their southern borders with Tolstoj Quadrangle's northeastern and northwestern borders, respectively. Beethoven Quadrangle (H-7) neighbors along Tolstoj Quadrangle's eastern border. As southern neighbors, Michelangelo Quadrangle (H-12) and Neruda Quadrangle (H-13) are contiguous with Tolstoj Quadrangle's northern border. Eminescu Quadrangle (H-9) neighbors along Tolstoj Quadrangle's western border.

The takeaways for Tolstoj Quadrangle as the eighth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the equator-straddling quadrangle's namesake, Tolstoj Crater, honors Russian writer Count Lev Tolstoj; that Caloris Planitia ("Hot Plain"), centered in neighboring Raditladi Quadrangle, extends its southern reaches into northern Tolstoj Quadrangle; that Tir Planitia, named with the Persian word for planet Mercury, occupies central Tolstoj Quadrangle; and that Tolstoj Quadrangle shares its southern border with northern neighbors Shakespeare and Raditladi quadrangles, its eastern border with Beethoven Quadrangle, its southern border with Michelangelo and Neruda quadrangles, and its western border with Eminescu Quadrangle.

Detail of Map of the H-8 (Tolstoj) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Tolstoj Crater, with Tolstoj's western rim occupant, Liszt Crater; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's 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:

Antoniadi, E.M. (Eugène Michel). La Planète Mercure et la Rotation des Satellites. Paris, France: Gauthier-Villars, 1934.

Davies, Merton E.; Stephen E. Dwornik; Donald E. Gault; and Robert G. Strom. "H-8 Tolstoj Quadrangle." Atlas of Mercury: 82-93. Special Publication SP-423. Prepared for the Office of Space Sciences. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-423/h8.htm

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Caloris Planitia.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated May 25, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/979

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Liszt.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 11, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3424

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Rublev.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5213

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Tir Planitia.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Feb. 17, 2017.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6025

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Tolstoj.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mercury. Last updated Oct. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6052

Lunar and Planetary Institute. "Mercury Map Catalog." Lunar and Planetary Institute > Resources.
Available @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mercury_maps/

Schaber, Gerald G.; and John F. McCauley. Geologic Map of the Tolstoj Quadrangle of Mercury. IMAP 1199 H-8. Atlas of Mercury 1:5,000,000 Geologic Series. Prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Reston VA: U.S. Geological Survey, Nov. 19, 1980.
Available via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Astropedia Web Portal @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Geology/Mercury-Geologic-Map-of-the-Tolstoj-Quadrangle
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1199

U.S. Geological Survey. Shaded Relief Map of the Tir Quadrangle of Mercury (Phaethontias Albedo Province). IMAP 993 H-7. Atlas of Mercury 1:5,000,000 Topographic Series. Prepared on behalf of the Planetology Programs Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Reston VA: U.S. Geological Survey, 1976.
Available via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Astropedia Web Portal @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Topography/Mercury-Shaded-Relief-Map-of-the-Tir-Quadrangle

Eugene Cernan Flew Apollo 10 LM Snoopy and Was Apollo 17 Moonwalker

Summary: American astronaut Eugene Cernan flew Apollo 10 LM Snoopy and was an Apollo 17 moonwalker, the last moonwalker, during his 12-year career at NASA.

NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan at press conference April 26, 1969, with Peanuts cartoon character Snoopy, namesake of Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy; NASA ID S69-32037: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA History-Apollo Flight Journal

American astronaut Eugene Cernan flew Apollo 10 LM Snoopy and was an Apollo 17 moonwalker and, in fact, the last moonwalker, during his 12-year career at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Eugene “Gene” Andrew Cernan (born Wednesday, March 14, 1934) publicly began his space career at NASA with the official announcement of his selection for 14-member Astronaut Group 3, known as The Fourteen, on Friday, Oct. 18, 1963, at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), renamed Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) on Monday, Feb. 19, 1973. Naval aviator and officer Cernan was joined by three other U.S. Navy officers: naval aviators and test pilots Richard Francis Gordon Jr. (born Oct. 5, 1929) and Alan LaVern Bean (born March 15, 1932); and naval aviator Roger Bruce Chaffee (Feb. 15, 1935-Jan. 27, 1967).

The United States Air Force (USAF) contributed eight to the Fourteen. Edwin “Buzz” Eugene Aldrin Jr. (born Jan. 20, 1930) and William Alison Anders (born Oct. 17, 1933) were naval fighter pilots. Charles “Charlie” Arthur Bassett II (Dec. 30, 1934-Feb. 28, 1966), Michael Collins (born Oct. 31, 1930), Donn Fulton Eisele (June 23, 1930-Dec. 2, 1987), Theodore “Ted” Cordy Freeman (Feb. 18, 1930-Oct. 31, 1964) and David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) served as naval test pilots. Civilian astronaut Russell “Rusty” Louis Schweickart (born Oct. 25, 1935), having served as a fighter pilot and in the Air National Guard, came to NASA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Experimental Astronomy Laboratory.

Two selectees represented the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (Navy ROTC), Clifton Curtis “C.C.” Williams Jr. (Sept. 26, 1932-Oct. 5, 1967) was a test pilot and naval aviator. Civlian astronaut Ronnie Walter Cunningham (born March 16, 1932), a naval enlistee commissioned as a USMC fighter pilot and serving in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1956 to 1975, came to NASA from global policy think tank RAND (Research And Development) Corporation.

Gene Cernan’s 12-year NASA career featured three spaceflights. His first flight into space occurred as pilot of Gemini IX-A (Gemini 9A). Project Gemini’s seventh crewed flight launched Friday, June 3, 1966, and splashed down Sunday, June 6. Astronaut Group 2 selectee Thomas Patten Stafford (born Sept. 17, 1930) was the mission’s command pilot.

Apollo 10 rejoined Cernan, as Lunar Module Snoopy Pilot, and Stafford, as Commander. Astronaut Group 2 selectee John Watts Young (born Sept. 24, 1930) served as Command Module Charlie Brown Pilot. Apollo 10 launched Sunday, May 18, 1969, and splashed down Monday, May 26. The mission operated as a “dress rehearsal,” minus the lunar landing, for lunar-landing mission Apollo 11.

In an interview Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, with Rebecca Wright for NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, Cernan emphasized the importance of the “dress rehearsal” mission. “But anyway, I keep telling Neil [A.] Armstrong that we painted that white line in the sky all the way to the Moon down to 47,000 feet so he wouldn’t get lost, and all he had to do was land,” Cernan recalled. “Made it sort of easy for him.”

Cernan’s third spaceflight occurred as the Apollo 17 mission commander. The Apollo space program’s last lunar landing mission launched Thursday, Dec. 7, 1972, and splashed down Tuesday, Dec. 19. Cernan and Lunar Module Challenger Pilot Harrison Hagan “Jack” Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) became the 11th and 12th moonwalkers, respectively, while Command Module America Pilot Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr. (Nov. 10, 1933-April 7, 1990) remained in lunar orbit. Boarding Challenger after Schmitt made Cernan the last moonwalker.

In his NASA Oral History Project interview, Cernan described his lasts steps on the moon as “perhaps more memorable” than his first step. He had an awareness of “the endlessness of space, the endlessness of time” and a view of “the Earth in all its splendor, in all its glory, multicolors of the blues of the oceans and whites of the snow and the clouds.” He explained: “I wanted, like in the simulator, I wanted to push the freeze button, stop time, stop the world.”

The takeaways for NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan’s flying Apollo 10 LM Snoopy and moonwalking for Apollo 17 are that the naval aviator stepped onto the moon as the 11th of 12 moonwalkers and that his footsteps sculpt the lunar surface as the last moonwalk.

official portrait of Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy Pilot Eugene Cernan in front of Apollo 10 Saturn V at John F. Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA History-Apollo Flight Journal

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Cernan, Eugene. The Last Man on the Moon: Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in Space. New York NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.

Dunbar, Brian; and Kathleen Zona, ed. “Snoopy Soars With NASA at Charles Schulz Museum.” NASA > News & Features > News Topics > NASA History & People. Jan. 5, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/snoopy.html

Dunbar, Brian; and Robert Garner, ed. “Map of Past Lunar Landing Sites.” NASA > Missions > LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter > News and Media Resources. May 13, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/moonimg_07.html

Godwin, Robert, comp. and ed. Apollo 10: The NASA Mission Reports. Second edition. Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2000.

Holdsworth, Elizabeth. “Space Oddity: Of London and Apollo 10.” Londonist. Last updated Dec. 18, 2013.
Available @ https://londonist.com/2013/12/space-oddity-of-london-and-apollo-10

Marriner, Derdriu. “Jettisoned LM Snoopy Descent Stage Appeared Near Taruntius Crater.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 11, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/jettisoned-lm-snoopy-descent-stage.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project Seek Lost Apollo 10 LM Snoopy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/09/nick-howes-and-faulkes-telescope.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Nick Howes Considers Possible Orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/nick-howes-considers-possible-orbits_14.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Snoopy and Charlie Brown Are Hugging Each Other in Apollo 10 Docking.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/snoopy-and-charlie-brown-are-hugging.html

NASA JSC Web Team. “Apollo: 1963-1972.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/apollo.htm

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Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/apollo10.htm

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “11.3 Photographic Results.” Apollo 10 Mission Report: 11.3-11.5. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, August 1969.
Available @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Mission (AS-505) Post Launch Mission Operation Report No. 1. Report No. M-932-69-10. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, May 26, 1969.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/pdf/a10-postlaunch-rep.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Mission Report. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, August 1969.
Available @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Press Kit. Release no. 69-68. May 7, 1969. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1969.
Available @ https://www.history.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_PressKit.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription (Goss Net 1). Prepared for Data Logistics Office Test Division Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, May 1969.
Available via Johnson Space Center (JSC) History Portal @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/AS10_TEC.PDF

Orloff, Richard W. “Apollo 10 The Fourth Mission: Testing the LM in Lunar Orbit.” Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference: 71-88. NASA History Series. NASA SP 4029. Washington DC: NASA Headquarters Office of Policy and Plans, 2000.
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Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-documents.html

Wright, Rebecca. “Edited Oral History Transcript: Eugene A. Cernan.” NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. Dec. 11, 2007.
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