Fra Mauro formation

<p>The Fra Mauro formation (or Fra Mauro Highlands) is a <a href="/facts/Geology_of_the_Moon/vhIu0V7k">formation</a> on the <a href="/facts/Near_side_of_the_Moon/6sLbr6dt">near side</a> of <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Earth's Moon</a> that served as the landing site for the American <a href="/facts/Apollo_14/SuokTzAu">Apollo 14</a> mission in 1971. It is named after the 80-kilometer-diameter crater <a href="/facts/Fra_Mauro_(crater)/59lwVYwV">Fra Mauro</a>, located within it. The formation, as well as Fra Mauro crater, take their names from a <a href="/facts/Fra_Mauro/CNCmmtD0">15th-century Italian monk and mapmaker</a> of the same name. <a href="/facts/Apollo_13/YfSNWC07">Apollo 13</a> was originally scheduled to land in the Fra Mauro highlands, but was unable due to an in-flight technical failure.
</p><p>Fra Mauro is thought to have been formed from <a href="/facts/Ejecta/5N1ng5Jh">ejecta</a>, or debris, from the impact which formed <a href="/facts/Mare_Imbrium/b4CQgRHt">Mare Imbrium</a>. During Apollo 14, the crew members sampled ejecta from <a href="/facts/Cone_(crater)/I3cnyuGQ">Cone</a> crater, a feature close in proximity to the immediate landing site of the mission, which provided insight into the composition of material deep inside the formation. Data from the mission has helped to determine the approximate age of Mare Imbrium, suggesting that it is no more than about 4.25 billion years old.
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Fra Mauro formation open-in-new

Fra Mauro formation