Taurus–Littrow
As a result of these lavas, rock and soil samples from the area that were collected by Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt provided insight into the natural history and geologic timeline of the Moon.
[1] Somewhere between 100 and 200 million years after the Serenitatis basin and Taurus–Littrow formed, the lavas that had seeped through the lunar crust began to flood the low-lying areas.
The North and South massifs funnel into the main outlet of the valley, which in turn opens to Mare Serenitatis, such gap partially blocked by Family mountain.
[7] The Tycho impact, which occurred between 15–20 and 70–95 million years ago, formed secondary crater clusters in various locations of the Moon.
Apollo 17 observation data and comparison between the valley's central crater cluster and known Tycho secondary impacts indicate many similarities between them.
[3] The valley floor's unusually low albedo, or reflectivity, is a direct result of the volcanic material and glass beads located there.
The deeper craters on the valley floor act as 'natural drill holes' and afforded Apollo 17 the ability to sample the subfloor basalt.
[3] The unconsolidated regolith layer on the valley floor has a thickness of about 14 metres (46 ft) and contains ejecta from many impact event, most notably that which formed Tycho.
[3] Analysis of the mantle material collected during Apollo 17 revealed a finely-grained texture interspersed with larger fragments of rock.
Much of the valley floor, as indicated by observations of the immediate landing area, is made up of regolith and fragments varying in sizes excavated by several impacts in the Moon's history.
A landing on the far side in Tsiolkovskiy would add the expense and logistical difficulty of communications satellites that would be necessary to maintain contact between the crew and mission control during surface operations, and data from Apollo 12 had already afforded an opportunity to gauge the timing and history of the Copernicus impact.
[12] Aerospace company PTScientists announced in 2019 that its ALINA lunar lander was planned to land 3 to 5 km (1.9 to 3.1 mi) away from the Apollo 17 LM within the Taurus–Littrow valley in early 2020,[13][14] later postponed to an indefinite date no earlier the second half of 2021.
