Gassendi was the alternate landing site for Apollo 17, which touched down in the Taurus-Littrow region almost exactly 50 years ago on Dec.
"Complex craters occur above a certain diameter crater, the cutoff diameter is dependent on gravity, so it varies from planet to planet (or moon to moon)," NASA officials wrote (opens in new tab) of Kepler.As for Gassendi, Apollo 17 was tentatively targeted for a region south of the central peaks rising in the crater, with the hopes of finding ancient rocks in the highlands, according to NASA. — NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft leaves moon's orbit to head home. — 10 strange things NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft took to the moon. — Watch fiery separation of NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket boosters."However, engineering constraints kept Gassendi from becoming an Apollo landing site because it was uncertain if the terrain within Gassendi was too rough and dangerous for astronauts to successfully approach the central peak and obtain a sample," NASA officials wrote in another web page (opens in new tab).