re: Nothing unusual about the slopes
Robert.
Sputnik DOES look like a crater to me and the reason that it may look like there's a gash or even a couple of them (from side to side?!) may be because it is located so close to Victorias' rim. The original asteroid/space rock hit the rim. Dust has a tendency to collect around the rim of craters and the gashes could very well be the result of dust collecting from either side of Sputnik where it meets the rim of Victoria.