Apollo 11 "The Eagle has landed"	Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.  The crew consisted of Commander Neil Armstrong,  Command Module pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module pilot Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr.  The objective Apollo 11 was to land men on the lunar surface and to return them safely to Earth.  Approximately 76 hours after launch, the spacecraft entered into lunar orbit.  Soon after, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Lunar Module and began to prepare for the descent to the lunar surface.  Soon after,  the two spacecrafts were undocked, the Command and Service Modules separated from the Lunar Module. The Lunar Module landed in the Sea of Tranquillity at 4:18 p.m. EDT.  After landing, the astronauts checked out all lunar module systems and ate their first meal on the Moon. They decided to begin the surface operations earlier than planned.  After much time was spent putting on the portable life-support backpacks, Commander Armstrong stepped out of the space craft. A lunar module camera provided live television coverage of Armstrong climbing down the ladder and setting foot on the lunar surface.    Aldrin emerged soon after.  Aldrin evaluated his ability to operate and move about and he was able to move about the surface rapidly and with confidence.  They conducted several surface experiments including solar winds detector, laser retroflector and a passive seismometer.  The two collected forty-seven pounds of lunar surface material to bring back to Earth for analysis. The surface exploration lasted 2½ hours. The Lunar Module redocked with the Command and Service Modules at 128 hours into the mission.  The mission ran very smoothly, only one midcourse correction was required. "The national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished with the success of Apollo 11."	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission Apollo 11 Crew   Apollo 11 Crew Patch
Apollo 12 "A Pinpoint Mission"	The Apollo 12 crew consisted of Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard Gordon, Jr., and Alan Bean.  During the Apollo 12 space vehicle's launch from the Kennedy Space Center on November 14, 1969, it was struck by lightning several times, luckily this did not cripple the mission in any way.  This mission was NASA's first opportunity to sample the rocks on the lunar surface within half a kilometer of the landing site.  It was also the first chance to get geologic data from first-hand observations, as well as to measure the vector components of the moon's magnetic field on the the lunar surface, to measure the pressure of lunar atmosphere and to obtain seismic data on the interior of the Moon. Unlike Apollo 11, Apollo 12  had a pinpointed location on the lunar surface that they had to hit upon landing to show that it was possible to maneuver the Lunar Module.  While Gordon remained in lunar orbit in the Command Module, the LM landed on the northwest rim of the Surveyor Crater in the Ocean of Storms.  The two astronauts brought back several items from the Surveyor 3 spacecraft which had landed on the moon's surface in 1967 along with lunar soil and additional surface samples which they collected during their two moon walks which totaled 8 hours and 45 minutes.    The astronauts took extensive photographs of the lunar surface and crew activities.	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission Apollo 12 Crew   Apollo 12 Crew Patch
Apollo 14 "Shepard Back In Space"	Apollo 14 was crewed by Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, and Edgar D. Mitchell.  It was launched on January 31, 1971 from the Kennedy Space Center.  Due to the tragedy of Apollo 13, Apollo 14 was assigned a landing site in Fra Mauro, the planned landing site for the Apollo 13 mission.  "Fra Mauro contains some of the most clearly exposed geological formations that are characteristic of the Fra Mauro Formation. The formation is an extensive geological unit that is distributed over much of the nearside of the Moon." Shepard and Mitchell performed different lunar surface experiment than those planned for the Apollo 13 mission. The crew's capability to move about farther from the landing site was improved by the addition of the Modularized Equipment Transporter, which is a light, hand drawn cart that enabled the crew to transport tools and samples with greater ease.  The main objective of the first EVA (extravehicular activity or moon walk) was to obtain geological samples in case they had an early abort.  The second EVA was focused on a geological sampling traverse toward Cone Crater.  The two astronauts walked on the moon for a total of 9 hours and 21 minutes, during their two moon walks.  Before reentering the Lunar Module at the end of Apollo 14's final moon walk, Alan Shepard demonstrated Newton's First Law of Motion, the Law of Inertia, when he became the first person to hit a golf ball on the Moon.	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission Apollo 14 Crew   Apollo 14 Crew Patch
Apollo 15 "Aboard The Lunar Rover"	The crew of Apollo 15 consisted of David R. Scott, James B. Irwin, and Alfred M. Worden.  It was launched on July 26, 1971 from the Kennedy Space Center.  This was the first Apollo mission designed to explore the Moon for a longer period of time, a greater range from the landing site and with more instruments for the collection of scientific data than on previous missions. This mission included the introduction the Lunar Rover; a vehicle that could reach a top speed of 16 kph (10 mph) across the Moon's surface. The Apollo 15 lunar landing mission was the first in a series of three advanced missions planned for the Apollo program. The main scientific objectives were to carry out an extensive geological exploration, survey and sample material and surface features in the Hadley-Apennine region, observe the lunar surface, setup and activate surface experiments and conduct in-flight experiments.  The crew, as always, took a plethora of pictures of the lunar surface from the surface and from the Command Module above. The astronauts were able to walk on the moon for a total duration of 18 hours and 33 minutes across three moon walks because of new life-support equipment that extended time the astronauts can survive.  Commander Scott and Lunar Module Pilot Irwin completed the first of the extended lunar scientific expeditions named the J-series.	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission Apollo 15 Crew   Apollo 15 Crew Patch
Apollo 16 "Exploring The Highlands"	The Apollo 16 crew consisted of Commander John Young, Command Module Pilot Thomas Mattingly II and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke Jr. The space vehicle was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 1972.  During the mission, two very impressive landmarks were visited, Stone Mountain and the North Ray crater.   The samples taken from the rim of North Ray crater were proved to be bedrock thrown up from the meteorite impact that had created it.  The crew also conducted 3 biomedical experiments including the biostack, the Apollo light-flash moving emulsion detector, and the microbial ecology evaluation device.  The biostack is an experiment that studies the biological effects of galactic cosmic radiation.  The light-flash emulsion detector studies the observation of faint light flashes seen by Apollo crew members while in space.  The microbial device studies the response of different microbes to a space environment. The crew conducted three moon walks with total time of 20 hours and 17 minutes on the lunar surface.  John Young and Charles Duke stayed on the moon for approximately 71 hours! When the entire crew was in lunar orbit once again, it was discovered that a faulty engine on Casper, the Command Module, had to  be fired. This caused some nervousness among the crew members and Mission Control; however, as the Command Module was taken around the far side of the Moon where the burn would take place, Mission Control awaited news.  The burn went smoothly with no problems.  The astronauts soon re-established radio contact with mission Control, and re-entry and landing proceeded as normal.	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission Apollo 16 Crew   Apollo 16 Crew Patch
Apollo 17 "We Came in Peace..."	The crew of Apollo 17 Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt were the last of the Apollo astronauts to venture to the moon due to budget cuts.  Their space vehicle was launched on December 7, 1972 from the Kennedy Space Center.  "The purpose of this Apollo mission was to sample basin-rim highland material and adjacent mare material and investigate the geological evolutionary relationship between these two major units." Also, it was possible to to directly measure the thermal neutron flux in the regolith,  to explore even more of the lunar surface from orbit and to determine  the constituents of the lunar atmosphere and observe their changes throughout a lunar day.  Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, also a professional geologist, engaged in a total of 22 hours and 2 minutes of lunar surface activities during their three moon walks.  The Lunar Rover also experienced its first lunar fender bender. There have been many individual investigations of surface and spatial features based on the Apollo 17 crew orbital observations and panoramic and metric camera photographs. These investigations ranged from "...studies of the structure of individual craters to studies of the sequences of mare stratigraphy and mare ridges to studies of the solar corona and zodiacal light." The first phase of man's exploration of the Moon came to an end with the Apollo 17 mission. Many questions about lunar science were answered during the Apollo missions, but many more remain unanswered. "Some of the unanswered questions will be answered in the future from data already returned but as yet not fully analyzed, and some will have to wait for data yet to be returned from instruments already in place on the lunar surface. Still other questions must await further exploration."	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission Apollo 17 Crew   Apollo 17 Crew Patch

Last Updated May 23, 2000                                                                                                                    a SCEN103 Project