Lunar craters named for space explorers
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14 craters on the Moon have been named after astronauts and cosmonauts who have died as part of a space mission. Most are on the far side of the moon.
Four craters were named after the Apollo 1 astronauts and a Soviet cosmonaut of the Soyuz 1 mission, all four of whom died in 1967:
Subsequently, three craters were named after the Soyuz 11 cosmonauts, who died in 1971:
Since then, seven craters have been named after the Challenger space shuttle astronauts who died on the January, 1986, launch of that orbiter.
- Dick Scobee
- Gregory Jarvis
- Ronald McNair
- Ellison Onizuka
- Judith Resnik
- Michael J. Smith
- Christa McAuliffe
The astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster are memorialized in the Columbia Hills on the planet Mars, with names expected to be approved by the IAU.
