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Science 15 June 1973:
Vol. 180. no. 4091, pp. 1173 - 1176
DOI: 10.1126/science.180.4091.1173
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Articles

Al-Khwarizmi: A New-Found Basin on the Lunar Far Side

Farouk El-Baz 1

1 National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560

Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 photographs of the far side of the moon reveal a double-ringed basin 500 kilometers in diameter centered at 1°N, 112°E. The structure is very old and subdued; it is probably Pre-Nectarian in age and appears to have been filled and modified by younger events. The heights of the basin's rings are based on laser altimeter data from Apollo missions 15 through 17; these data suggest a third outer ring, approximately 1000 kilometers in diameter. Laser measurements also indicate that the filled basin separates the relatively low terrain on the eastern limb of the moon from the higher, more rugged highlands to the east.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)