Shorty (crater)

Shorty is a crater on the Moon, found in the Taurus–Littrow valley. It was visited in 1972 by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt during the Apollo 17 mission. This crater is famous because of the "orange soil" discovered there. Scientists think this orange soil is tiny pieces of rock that cooled very quickly after being shot into the air by a lava fountain long ago.

Shorty is about 110 meters wide and up to 14 meters deep. It is located near other important Moon features, including Victory, Camelot, Brontë, Lara, and Nansen. The crater was named after a character in a book called Trout Fishing in America and also to honor short stories, especially those written by J. D. Salinger.

Samples

Astronauts collected different types of rocks and soil from Shorty crater during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. These samples are listed in a report called the Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report. One special discovery was a type of soil that looked orange, which scientists think came from cooled lava that shot up during a volcanic eruption long ago.

Sample	In Situ Photo	Rock Type	Lithology	Photo
74001/74002		Double Drive Tube	Regolith breccia	-
74115 to 74119		Friable clods	Regolith breccia	-
74220		-	Soil (the orange soil)
74235	-	Basalt vitrophyre	High-Ti Mare Basalt
74240		-	Soil	-
74245	-	Fine or devitrified basalt	Aphanitic High-Ti Basalt	-
74246	-	Dark matrix breccia	Soil Breccia	-
74247	-	Fine or devitrified basalt	High-Ti Basalt	-
74248	-	Fine or devitrified basalt	High-Ti Basalt	-
74249	-	Fine basalt	High-Ti Basalt	-
74250		-	Soil	-
74255		Coarse basalt	Ilmenite Basalt	-
74260		-	Soil	-
74270		-	Soil	-
74275		Fine basalt	High-Ti Mare Basalt
74285		Medium basalt	High-Ti Mare Basalt	-
74286		Medium basalt	High-Ti Mare Basalt	-
74287		Fine basalt	High-Ti Mare Basalt	-