Oblique view of Wallach at low sun angle from Apollo 8, facing westOblique view of Wallach from LROOblique view of Wallach from Apollo 15, facing west
Wallach is a tiny lunarimpact crater located in the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after German chemist and Nobel laureate Otto Wallach in 1979.[1] It is a circular, bowl-shaped feature with a negligible interior floor; the inner walls just slope down to the midpoint of the crater. Wallach is located to the northeast of the crater Maskelyne, near some low ridges in the lunar mare. It was previously identified as Maskelyne H before being given a name by the IAU.
An unusual and apparently unnamed elongate crater about 2 km x 5 km in size and about 44 km east of Wallach was the subject of a landmark tracking exercise on Apollo 8 in December 1968.[2] The feature was photographed repeatedly from its emergence on the horizon to after the Command Module had passed directly over it.
References
↑"Wallach (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
↑Apollo 8 Flight Journal, Photography Index, 70-mm Magazine E, photos AS08-13-2271 to AS08-13-2309
Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews12 (2): 136–186. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. Bibcode: 1971SSRv...12..136M.