SPACEPHOTOS

A deep drill team obtains cores for petrological studies of the floor units of the young, 30-kilometers, 4200-meter crater, Aristarchus. The pea of Aristarchus is a few kilometers to the south of the drill rig. This perspective from the crater floor shows the prominent slump terraces of the crater walls and the solidified impact melt rivulets which flowed down the steep inner wall immediately after the crater was formed. Because the crater is very 'young' the rivulets and the volcanic-like features and cooling cracks of the impact melt floor unit are only slightly muted by Meteorite erosion and ejecta blanketing. The drilling activities are taking place at 23.7 north and 47.5 degrees west.