Index is a feature on Earth's

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, a crater in the

Hadley–Apennine Hadley–Apennine is a region on the near side of Earth's Moon that served as the landing site for the American Apollo 15 mission, the fourth manned landing on the Moon and the first of the " J-missions", in July 1971. The site is located on the ...

region. Astronauts

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and ...

and

James Irwin James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. He served as Apollo Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landi ...

landed the Lunar Module ''Falcon'' northwest of it in 1971, on the Apollo 15 mission, but they did not visit it. They intended to land closer to Index, but actually landed next to

Last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...

crater. Index is the southernmost of a line of four craters which were used by the astronauts as landmarks during descent to the surface. The other three are called ''Luke'', ''Mark'', and ''Matthew'', after three of the four major

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s of the Bible. They were not allowed to call the crater ''John'' due to the fact that atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair had sued NASA for astronauts reading from Genesis during Apollo 8.Landing at Hadley
Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Journal, comment of David Scott The name ''Index'' was formally adopted by the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

in 1973, but the other three crater names were not.

External links

Apollo 15 Traverses
Lunar Photomap 41B4S4(25)

References

{{reflist Impact craters on the Moon