Largest, deepest, oldest known impact basin on the Moon; far side

"Bullseye" crater with 3 concentric rings; seen by human eyes for the first time by Artemis II crew

Most prominent young crater; bright ray system visible from Earth with naked eye

"Monarch of the Moon"; famous ray system and terraced walls

One of the largest near-side craters; famous chain of smaller craters within it

One of the largest craters on the near side; heavily degraded ancient basin

Prominent central peak; massive floor fracture (rille) radiating from center

Well-preserved; complex terraced walls and bright central peak

Near the eastern limb; known for distinctive floor fractures

Ancient, heavily eroded highland crater on the southeastern near side

Large walled plain near the Moon's southwestern limb

Southern highlands; heavily overlapped by subsequent impacts

Ancient, worn crater in the rugged southern highlands

Large old crater southwest of Tycho

Ancient crater on the edge of Mare Fecunditatis

Sits near the near/far side boundary — visible from Earth at certain libration angles.

Located just northwest of Orientale basin on the far side of the Moon — never visible from Earth.

First crewed lunar landing; 21.5 kg of basalt and regolith returned; Mare Tranquillitatis

Precision landing 160m from Surveyor 3; KREEP-poor basalt; retrieved Surveyor hardware for terrestrial analysis

Imbrium Basin ejecta blanket; KREEP-rich samples; deepest geologic window into the ancient lunar crust

First lunar rover mission; Hadley Rille lava channel; the "Genesis Rock" anorthosite from primordial crust returned

Only highland landing site; resolved young-volcano vs. impact origin debate; South Ray Crater samples from 100 Ma impact

Last crewed lunar landing; orange volcanic glass at Shorty Crater; most diverse and scientifically rich sample set returned

First robotic lander later visited by humans; Apollo 12 landed 160m away and returned hardware for terrestrial analysis

First soft landing on any extraterrestrial body (Feb 1966); proved the lunar surface was solid and could support a lander

Last Soviet lunar mission (1976); returned 170g core sample from Mare Crisium; re-analysis in 2010 found water-bearing minerals

First ever soft landing on the lunar far side (Jan 2019); Yutu-2 rover; within South Pole-Aitken Basin; requires Queqiao relay satellite

Most recent lunar sample return (Dec 2020); 1.73 kg of basalt; youngest volcanic material sampled at ~2 Ga — 1 Ga younger than Apollo samples

First Japanese lunar landing (Jan 2025); precision ±100m pinpoint landing near Shioli Crater; survived multiple lunar nights

Permanently shadowed interior with confirmed water ice; leading Artemis III landing candidate; rim has near-constant sunlight

High hydrogen signatures from LCROSS/LAMP instruments; permanently shadowed region; selected VIPER rover target

Permanently shadowed crater with significant water ice evidence from LAMP; active Artemis III surface access candidate

High ridge near south pole with near-constant sunlight; communications relay site with Earth line-of-sight; strategic Artemis infrastructure node

Largest near-side mare basin; formed ~3.9 Ga ago; multiple distinct basalt flow units spanning 600 million years of volcanism

Titanium-rich basalt with distinctive blue tint in spectral color maps; Apollo 11 landing site; one of the oldest maria

Largest volcanic feature on the Moon; KREEP terrain; Chang'e 5 target; possibly not an impact basin but a unique volcanic province

Isolated mare basin geochemically distinct from the Procellarum KREEP terrain; Luna 24 sample return; basalt ages differ from neighboring maria

Brightest crater on the Moon; highest pyroclastic deposit density on the near side; suspected site of active outgassing and transient phenomena

Strongest lunar swirl pattern on the Moon; co-located with a magnetic anomaly; no crater or volcanic origin has been identified

Largest sinuous rille on the Moon; ~160 km long and up to 10 km wide; collapsed lava tube candidate adjacent to Aristarchus Plateau