Sikorsky is a

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 ...

on the

far side ''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealis ...

of 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 ...

. It is situated behind the southeastern limb of the

, just out of sight from the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. It lies to the northwest of the huge walled plain Schrödinger. To the northwest is the smaller crater

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. In 1967 the

Lunar Orbiter 4 Lunar Orbiter 4 was a robotic U.S. spacecraft, part of the Lunar Orbiter program, Lunar Orbiter Program, designed to orbit the Moon, after the three previous orbiters had completed the required needs for Project Apollo, Apollo mapping and site s ...

photographed this region in high resolution, discovering a 310-km-long gouge cutting through the middle of Sikorsky. This linear formation is radial to Schrödinger and has since been named the

Vallis Schrödinger Vallis Schrödinger (Latin for "Schrödinger Valley") is a long, nearly linear valley that lies on the far side of the Moon. It is oriented radially to the huge Schrödinger basin and most likely was formed during the original impact that created ...

. This is a heavily eroded crater formation with a rim that has been worn and rounded by a long history of lesser impacts. In addition to the wide valley mentioned above, there is a lesser cleft that cuts into the eastern rim from the south-southeast. There are also small craterlets along the rim to the east, northeast, and northwest. Discounting the valley that bisects the floor, the interior surface is relatively level and featureless, with only a few tiny craterlets to mark the surface. At nearly the exact midpoint of the floor, and intruding into the western side of the Vallis Schrödinger, is the almost perfectly bowl-shaped satellite crater Sikorsky Q. The crater is named after

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (russian: И́горь Ива́нович Сико́рский, p=ˈiɡərʲ ɪˈvanəvitʃ sʲɪˈkorskʲɪj, a=Ru-Igor Sikorsky.ogg, tr. ''Ígor' Ivánovich Sikórskiy''; May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972)Fortie ...

, a

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pioneer.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Sikorsky.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Impact craters on the Moon