Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the fourth manned lunar landing, taking place in 1970, it lasted from July 27th until August 7th, when the command module, Endeavour, splashed down in the Pacific to be picked up by the USS Okinawa.
Like all the Apollo missions, it launched from Florida, but unlike the previous missions, it was part of the J series of missions, planning for a longer stay on the lunar surface. The astronauts were David Scott (Commander), James Irwin (Lunar module pilot) and Alfred Worden (Command Module pilot). After a couple of days heading to the moon, the mission entered orbit, and a day later on the 30th the landing was made. They touched down at the Mount Hadley Apennine site, having made a steeper descent than any previous missions due to the terrain.
During their mission, they recovered about 75kg of rock samples and were on the surface for 67hrs. This mission marked the first use of the LRV, the lunar rover vehicle. Was a lightweight foldable car that was stowed under the lander, and allowed for a wider range of exploration. They deployed several experiments on the surface, and on the first day they did what was the longest moonwalk ever undertaken to date at over six and a half hours. The next day, they used the LRV and got the furthest from the lunar module that any mission had travelled at that time, 5km. They also set a lunar land speed record of 12km/hr.
The next day they filmed the much played video for physics students, where Galileo’s experiment was recreated. They parked the LRV where its camera could film their ascent, climbed back into the module, pressurised and a few hours later the ascent module lifted off to rendezvous-Vous with the command module.
The Endeavour capsule is currently at the USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio.
Recent Space Posts
Links
Endeavour at the USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio.
Remembering Al Worden.
Apollo 15 image AS15-86-1102 (public domain)
