Vetchinkin (crater)

Vetchinkin
Apollo 16 mapping camera image. Gamma-ray spectrometer is at right. NASA photo.
Coordinates10°12′N 131°18′E / 10.2°N 131.3°E / 10.2; 131.3
Diameter98 km
Colongitude230° at sunrise
EponymVladimir Vetchinkin

Vetchinkin is an eroded lunar impact crater. It is located to the west-northwest of the huge walled plain Mendeleev, on the far side of the Moon. To the west-northwest of Vetchinkin lies the crater Meshcherskiy and to the south-southeast lies Green.

Oblique view also from Apollo 16 with a higher sun angle

This crater is heavily worn and eroded, and little remains of the original outer rim. The satellite crater Vetchinkin K falls across the eastern side of the rim, and Vetchinkin Q forms a small but prominent crater in the southwestern part of the floor. The remainder of the crater interior is marked by various small craterlets and minor impacts, and there is little to distinguish this feature from the surrounding battered terrain.