Apollo 14

third Moon landing and eighth crewed flight of the United States Apollo program

Apollo 14 was the eighth crewed mission in the Apollo program. It was the third mission to land on the Moon. The nine-day mission left the Earth on January 31, 1971, and landed on the Moon on February 5. The Lunar Module landed in the Fra Mauro formation; this had been the target of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. During the two walks on the Moon's surface, 93.2 lb (42 kg) of moon rock was collected. Several experiments, including seismic studies, were carried out. Commander Alan Shepard famously hit two golf balls on the lunar surface with a makeshift club he had brought from Earth. Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa took several hundred seeds on the mission, many of which were planted on return, resulting in the so-called Moon trees.[2] The pilot of the Lunar Module was Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

Apollo 14
Shepard and the American flag on the Moon during Apollo 14 in February 1971
Mission typeCrewed lunar landing
OperatorNASA[1]
COSPAR ID
  • CSM: 1971-008A
  • LM: 1971-008C
SATCAT no.
  • CSM: 4900
  • LM: 4905
Mission duration9 days, 1 minute, 58 seconds
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft
ManufacturerCSM: North American Rockwell
LM: Grumman
Launch mass102,084 pounds (46,305 kg)
Landing mass11,481 pounds (5,208 kg)
Crew
Crew size3
Members
Callsign
  • CSM: Kitty Hawk
  • LM: Antares
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 31, 1971 (1971-01-31)
RocketSaturn V
Launch siteKennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Recovered byUSS New Orleans
Landing dateFebruary 9, 1971 (1971-02-10)
Landing siteSouth Pacific Ocean
27°1′S 172°39′W / 27.017°S 172.650°W / -27.017; -172.650 (Apollo 14 splashdown)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemSelenocentric
Pericynthion16.9 kilometers (9.1 nmi)
Apocynthion108.9 kilometers (58.8 nmi)
Period120 minutes
Lunar orbiter
Spacecraft componentCommand and service module
Orbital insertionFebruary 4, 1971
Orbital departureFebruary 7, 1971
Orbits34
Lunar lander
Spacecraft componentLunar module
Landing dateFebruary 5, 1971
Return launchFebruary 6, 1971
Landing siteFra Mauro
3°38′43″S 17°28′17″W / 3.64530°S 17.47136°W / -3.64530; -17.47136
Sample mass42.80 kilograms (94.35 lb)
Surface EVAs2
EVA duration
  • Total: 9 hours, 22 minutes, 31 seconds
  • First: 4 hours, 47 minutes, 50 seconds
  • Second   4 hours, 34 minutes, 41 seconds
Docking with LM
Docking dateFebruary 1, 1971
Undocking dateFebruary 5, 1971
Docking with LM ascent stage
Docking dateFebruary 6, 1971
Undocking dateFebruary 6, 1971

Left to right: Mitchell, Shepard, Roosa 

LRO finds the site

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In June 2009, the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was able to photograph the Apollo 14 landing site. The base of the lunar module and the astronauts footprints on the Moon's surface could be clearly seen.[3]

References

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  1. Orloff, Richard W. (September 2004) [First published 2000]. "Table of Contents". Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference. NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA. ISBN 0-16-050631-X. LCCN 00061677. NASA SP-2000-4029. Archived from the original on September 6, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. "The Moon Trees". NASA. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
  3. "New images of Moon landing sites". news.bbc.co.uk. 18 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-19.