Oblique view of Aitken (upper right, on the horizon), from Apollo 11. Aitken A is on the rim of Aitken, Atiken C is at left, and Aitken Y is at right, in front of Aitken.Oblique view, also from Apollo 17Lunar Orbiter 2 image of most of Aitken
The inner wall of Aitken is terraced and varies notably in width with the narrowest portion in the southwest. The crater Aitken Z lies across the inner north wall. Just to the north of the rim is the small crater Aitken which is surrounded by an ejecta blanket of lighter-albedo material. The interior floor has been resurfaced in the past by a darker lava flow, especially in the southern half. There are also several small crater impacts on the eastern floor, an arcing central ridge line just to the east of the midpoint, and a line of smaller ridges in the western half.
The crater was named after American astronomer Robert Aitken by the IAU in 1970.[1]
Aitken was a target of observation on Apollo 17 due to the command module's orbit passing directly over it.[2]
This crater lies along the northern rim of the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, which was named after this crater, and the southern lunar pole, two extreme points of the Basin.
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 Aitken.
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 Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID122125855.
Figure 178 in Chapter 5 of APOLLO OVER THE MOON: A View From Orbit (NASA SP-362, 1978) describes unusual features in Aitken, and Figure 84 in Chapter 4 describes a mare ridge in the crater
