Mare Tranquillitatis

"Sea of Tranquility" redirects here. For other uses, see Sea of Tranquility (disambiguation).

Mare Tranquillitatis
The Sea of Tranquility of the Moon
Coordinates	8°30′N 31°24′E / 8.5°N 31.4°E / 8.5; 31.4Coordinates: 8°30′N 31°24′E / 8.5°N 31.4°E / 8.5; 31.4
Diameter	873 km (542 mi)[1][2]
Eponym	Sea of Tranquility

Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin for Sea of Tranquility) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. The mare material within the basin consists of basalt formed in the intermediate to young age group of the Upper Imbrian epoch. The surrounding mountains are thought to be of the Lower Imbrian epoch, but the actual basin is probably Pre-Nectarian. The basin has irregular margins and lacks a defined multiple-ringed structure. The irregular topography in and near this basin results from the intersection of the Tranquillitatis, Nectaris, Crisium, Fecunditatis, and Serenitatis basins with two throughgoing rings of the Procellarum basin. Palus Somni, on the northeastern rim of the mare, is filled with the basalt that spilled over from Tranquillitatis.

This Mare has a slight bluish tint relative to the rest of the moon and stands out quite well when color is processed and extracted from multiple photographs. The color is likely due to higher metal content in the basaltic soil or rocks.^[3]

Landings

In 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed in Mare Tranquillitatis, after successfully transmitting 7,137 photographs of the Moon in the final 23 minutes of its mission.

This mare was also the landing site for first manned landing on the Moon. After making a smooth touchdown in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module named Eagle, astronaut Neil Armstrong told flight controllers on Earth, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." The landing area at 0.8° N, 23.5° E has been designated Statio Tranquillitatis after Armstrong's name for it, and three small craters to the north of the base have been named Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong in honor of the Apollo 11 crew.

Bays

Along the periphery of the mare are several bay-shaped features that have been given names: Sinus Amoris, Sinus Asperitatis, Sinus Concordiae, and Sinus Honoris.^[4]

In the arts

Lunar nearside with major maria and craters labelled.

• Mare Tranquillitatis is also the name of a composition of music by composer Vangelis on his 1976 album, Albedo 0.39 and is in reference to the selenographical term.
• Sea of Tranquillity is the title of a 1994 novel by Paul Russell.
• Sea of Tranquility is also a song by the progressive rock band Barclay James Harvest, included in their 1977 album Gone to Earth. The composition was written by the band keyboardist Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme.
• The Dutch stoner rock/space rock band 35007 released a 2001 EP named Sea of Tranquility.
• Howard Korder wrote a play called Sea of Tranquility.
• The Brazilian rock band from the 80's RPM mentions the Sea of Tranquillity in their hit song Radio Pirata.
• Dutch producer Maarten van der Vleuten/In-Existence released a song titled "Mare Tranquillitatis" on his album Vow Of Silence released on Tonefloat in 2005.
• Sea of Tranquillity is song by space ambient artist, John Stanford.
• Singer songwriter Tommy Shaw (best known for his work with the rock band Styx) is associated with a number of references to the Sea of Tranquility. Tranquility Base Songs is his publishing company. He called his farm Tranquility Base Farms. A number of his songs mention Tranquility Base or simply "tranquility." Examples include: Boat On The River, "And all roads lead to Tranquility Base" (from the 1979 album Cornerstone), Everything Is Cool – "We are a Sea of Tranquillity" (from the 1999 album Brave New World), and These Are the Times – "We know the end will bring tranquility" (from the 2003 album Cyclorama).
• Six Finger Satellite included a song named Sea of Tranquility, Parts 1 & 2 from their 1998 album Law of Ruins.
• The Israeli psych-progressive rock band Jericho Jones recorded a song named "Mare Tranquilitatas" as the opening track of their UK album release (1971) "Junkies, Monkeys & Donkeys". The band is also known as The Churchills.
• The Sea of Tranquility is the name of a graphic arts series.

Gallery

• 

  Map of Mare Tranquillitatis, showing the landing sites of Apollo 11, Apollo 17, Apollo 16, and Surveyor 5. To the southeast is Mare Fecunditatis, to the northeast is Mare Crisium, to the northwest is Mare Serenitatis, and to the south is Mare Nectaris.

• 

  Buzz Aldrin salutes the U.S. flag on Mare Tranquillitatis during Apollo 11 in 1969.

References

1. ^ "Moon Mare/Maria". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=MOON&featureType=Mare%2C%20maria. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
2. ^ "Mare Tranquillitatis". Nasa. http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/science/atlas/mare/mtranquillitatis.htm. 
3. ^ How to capture the color of the Moon
4. ^ Wood, Chuck (2006-08-10). "Is it Love or a Sinus Infection?". Lunar Photo of the Day. http://www.lpod.org/?m=20060810. Retrieved 2006-08-10.