English: These are three views of
Mare Serenitatis on the moon, taken by the mapping camera of the
Apollo 17 mission in 1972, facing north-northeast from an altitude of an average of 107 km on Revolution 27 of the mission. At the right is the east margin of Mare Serenitatis, with the 95 km diameter crater
Posidonius at the central horizon, the basalt-flooded
Le Monnier crater to the south, the mare ridge (or
wrinkle ridge)
Dorsa Aldrovandi at center,
Littrow crater at the right, and the landing site of Apollo 17 in the lower right corner in the
Taurus-Littrow valley. In the center is the relatively small crater
Bessel (16 km), and two prominent rays probably from the
Tycho impact far to the south. At the left is the western margin of the mare, with the
Caucasus Mountains at the central horizon, the
Apennine Mountains at left, and the
Sulpicius Gallus Rilles at the lower right. These photos were taken within minutes of each other. The sun elevation drops from 24 degrees at right to 5 degrees at left as the Command module
America orbited the moon.