Little West is a small

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

(30-meter diameter) in

Mare Tranquillitatis Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin ''tranquillitātis'', the Sea of Tranquillity or Sea of Tranquility; see spelling differences) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It is the first location on another world to be ...

on the

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 ...

, east of the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

landing site known as

Tranquility Base Tranquility Base ( la, Statio Tranquillitatis) is the site on the Moon where, in July 1969, humans landed and walked on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ...

. The Apollo 11 astronauts

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

and

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

landed the

Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

(LM) ''Eagle'' approximately 60 meters west of Little West Crater on July 20, 1969. This is the crater

mentions during his final descent onto the lunar surface. The south-west rim of the crater marks the farthest point that either astronaut traveled from the lunar module during their time on the lunar surface for the

mission. No visit to a crater had been planned during the landing since there was no expectation that the lander would be near a crater of any size. Armstrong observed some rocks at the center of the crater but didn't enter the crater to sample them. The crater was named "Little West Crater" because of its proximity along the lunar module's flight path to

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

crater, the far larger, football-field-sized crater of similar name. For some years, Little West Crater was referred to as "East Crater" in the ''ALSJ'' (''Apollo Lunar Surface Journal'') and various derivatives. At the time of Apollo 11, the words “east” and “west” were used to describe directions on the Moon from the perspective of an observer on Earth. The crater was therefore named “Little West Crater” even though it appears to the east of the landing site on modern lunar maps.
''Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal'', EASEP Deployment and Closeout The name was officially approved by IAU's

Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature 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 ...

on July 26, 2017. Neil Armstrong's tracks to the crater were visible in images taken by the

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions t ...

in 2009.

References

{{reflist Impact craters on the Moon Apollo 11