 LRO image | |
| Coordinates | 19°00′N148°12′E / 19.0°N 148.2°E Coordinates: 19°00′N148°12′E / 19.0°N 148.2°E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 33 km |
| Depth | Unknown |
| Colongitude | 212° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Aleksei A. Leonov |
Leonov is a small lunar impact crater that lies to the south of Mare Moscoviense, one of the few maria on the far side of the Moon. This crater has a heart-shaped outline, due to an outward bulge along the northwest side. The rim of Leonov is worn, and several tiny craterlets lie along the edge. The inner walls and interior floor are relatively featureless.
Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, almost all of which were formed by impacts.
An impact crater is an approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters range from small, simple, bowl-shaped depressions to large, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.
Mare Moscoviense is a lunar mare that sits in the Moscoviense basin. It is one of the very few maria on the far side of the Moon. Like Mare Marginis, this mare appears to be fairly thin. However, it is clearly centered within a large impact basin. It is also much lower than either the outer basin floor or the farside highlands.
In 1970, the crater was named after Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, [1] the first human to perform an extravehicular activity (EVA or "spacewalk") in Earth orbit in 1965.
Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was a Soviet/Russian cosmonaut, Air Force Major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first human to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds of extravehicular activity (EVA).
Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut or cosmonaut outside a spacecraft beyond the Earth's appreciable atmosphere. The term most commonly applies to a spacewalk made outside a craft orbiting Earth. On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first human to perform a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. The term also applied to lunar surface exploration performed by six pairs of American astronauts in the Apollo program from 1969 to 1972. On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to perform a moonwalk, outside his lunar lander on Apollo 11 for 2 hours and 31 minutes. On the last three Moon missions astronauts also performed deep-space EVAs on the return to Earth, to retrieve film canisters from the outside of the spacecraft. Astronauts Pete Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz also used EVA in 1973 to repair launch damage to Skylab, the United States' first space station.
