The Apollo 16 space vehicle
was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 1972. The crew
consisted of Captain John W. Young, commander; Lt. Commander Thomas K.
Mattingly II, Command Module pilot; and Lt. Colonel Charles M. Duke Jr.,
Lunar Module pilot.
A number of experiments
were deployed and two impressive landmarks, Stone Mountain and the North
Ray crater, visited. Samples taken from the rim of North Ray crater
later proved to be bedrock thrown up from the meteorite impact that had
created it. Three moon walks withlunar
surface activitiestotaling
20 hours and 17 minutes were accomplished by Young and Duke. The crew
remained on the lunar surface for a total of about 71 hours. After lunar
liftoff, the Lunar Module rendezvoused with the Command Module and
Mattingly.
When the crew returned to
orbit, tensions rose as it was discovered that a faulty engine on
Casper, the Command Module, had to fire. The module was taken around the
far side of the Moon where the burn would take place as Mission Control
waited for news.
The burn had the desired
effect as the astronauts re-established radio contact, and entry and
landing proceeded as normal
Crew
Patch
The Apollo program was an American spaceflight endeavor that landed the
first humans on Earth's Moon.
Apollo Program
AstronautHarrison
H. Schmitton December 13,
1972, during theApollo
17mission, the last human lunar landing to date
November 7, 1962 - July 13, 1974
The Apollo program was an American spaceflight endeavor that
landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the presidency of
Dwight D. Eisenhower and conducted by NASA, Apollo began in earnest after
President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 special address to a joint session of
Congress declaring a national goal of "landing a man on the Moon" by the end of
the decade.
This goal was accomplished with the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969 when
astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, while Michael
Collins remained in lunar orbit. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed
astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six Apollo
spaceflights, twelve men walked on the Moon. These are the only times humans
have landed on another celestial body.[3]
The Apollo program ran from 1961 until 1975, and was the US civilian space
agency's third human spaceflight program (following Mercury and Gemini). Apollo
used Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicles, which were later used for the
Skylab program and the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. These
subsequent programs are thus often considered part of the Apollo program.
The program was accomplished with only two major setbacks. The first was the
Apollo 1 launch pad fire that resulted in the deaths of astronauts Gus Grissom,
Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The second was an oxygen tank rupture on Apollo 13
during the moonward phase of its journey, which disabled the command spacecraft.
The three astronauts aboard narrowly escaped with their lives, thanks to the
efforts of flight controllers, project engineers, backup crew members and the
skills of the astronauts.
Apollo set major milestones in human spaceflight. It stands alone in sending
manned missions beyond low Earth orbit; Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft
to orbit another celestial body, while Apollo 17 marked the last moonwalk and
the last manned mission beyond low Earth orbit. The program spurred advances in
many areas of technology incidental to rocketry and manned spaceflight,
including avionics, telecommunications, and computers. Apollo sparked interest
in many fields of engineering and left many physical facilities and machines
developed for the program as landmarks. Many objects and artifacts from the
program are on display at locations throughout the world, notably in the
Smithsonian's Air and Space Museums.
Partial Success-
Unmanned suborbital flight was the first test flight of Saturn 1B and of the
Apollo Command and Service Modules; problems included a fault in the
electrical power system and a 30 percent decrease in pressure to the service
module engine 80 seconds after firing.
Success-
command module reentry test successful, even though reentry was very
uncontrolled. Informally proposed as Apollo 3, this name was never approved.
Failure-
never launched: command module destroyed and three astronauts killed on 27
January 1967 by fire in the module during a test exercise - Retroactively,
the mission's name was officially changed to "Apollo 1" after the fire.
Although it was scheduled to be the fourth Apollo mission (and despite the
fact that NASA planned to call the mission AS-204), the flight patch worn by
the three astronauts, which was approved by NASA in June 1966, already
referred to the mission as "Apollo 1"
Success-
first flight of lunar module (LM); multiple space tests of LM, no command or
service module flown; no controlled reentry. Used the Saturn 1B originally
slated for the cancelled manned AS-204 ("Apollo 1") mission
Partial success-
severe oscillations during orbital insertion, several engines failing during
flight, successful reentry of command module (though mission parameters for
a 'worst case' reentry scenario could not be achieved)
Success-
eleven-day manned Earth orbit, command module testing (no lunar module),
some minor crew and illness issues (all three men caught the same head-cold
and reported stress).
Success-
ambitious mission profile (changed relatively shortly before launch), first
human lunar orbit (no lunar module), first earthrise seen by men and major
publicity success, some minor sleeping and illness issues
Success-
second manned lunar flight; first test of lunar module in lunar orbit;
"dress rehearsal" for first landing, coming to 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km)
to the Moon's surface
Success-
mission almost aborted after lightning struck at launch with brief loss of
fuel cells and telemetry; successful landing within walking distance (less
than 200 meters) of theSurveyor
3probe; two EVAs
Partial Failure[30]-
early shutdown of inboard S-II engine; unrelated oxygen tank rupture in
service module during Earth-Moon transition caused mission to be aborted -
crew took temporary refuge in the lunar module and returned safely to Earth
after a single pass around the Moon.
Success-
docking problems, abort switch contamination and delayed landing radar
acquisition all threatened landing; first color video images from the Moon;
first materials science experiments in space; two EVAs
Success-
first longer (3 days) stay on Moon, first use of lunar rover to travel total
of 17.25 miles (27.76 km), more extensive geology investigations; 1 lunar
"standup" EVA, 3 lunar surface EVAs plus deep space EVA
Success-
malfunction in a backup yaw gimbal servo loop almost aborted landing (and
reduced stay duration in lunar orbit by one day for safety reasons); only
mission to target lunar highlands; malfunction prevented controlled ascent
stage impact after jettison; 3 lunar EVAs plus deep space EVA
Success-
last manned landing on the Moon, only mission with a scientist (geologist)
on board; this is also the latest manned moon landing and manned flight
beyond low Earth orbit; 3 lunar EVAs plus deep space EVA
Success-
Apollo spacecraft takes first US crew to Skylab, the first American space
station, for a 28 day stay; freed stuck solar panel and deployed replacement
sunshield
Success-
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, in which an Apollo space craft conducted
rendezvous and docking exercises with SovietSoyuz
19in space - sometimes
referred to as "Apollo 18"
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