Apollo 14

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the moon.

Mission highlights

On the way down, the LM "Antares" had two problems. First, the LM computer began getting an ABORT signal from the ABORT switch. NASA believed that the computer might be getting erroneous readings like this if a tiny ball of soldering material had shaken loose and was floating between the switch and the contact, closing the circuit. The immediate solution - tapping on the panel next to the switch - did work, but if the problem recurred after the descent engine fired, the computer would think the signal was real and would initiate the sequence to blow the Ascent Stage back into orbit. NASA and the software teams at MIT scrambled to find a more permanent solution - reprogramming the computer to ignore the signal - and Shepard and Mitchell were able to accomplish this just in time.

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The second problem was the failure of the radar to lock onto the moon's surface. Eventually, at close to the last possible moment, it started working. Shepard landed the LM closer to its intended mark than any of the other five moon landing missions.

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After landing in the Fra Mauro formation - the destination for Apollo 13 - Shepard and Mitchell took two moon­walks, adding new seismic studies to the by now familiar Apollo experiment package, and using a "lunar rickshaw" pull cart to carry their equipment. Roosa, meanwhile, took pictures from on board command module "Kitty Hawk" in lunar orbit.

Related Topics:
Fra Mauro formation - Apollo 13

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The second moonwalk, or EVA, was intended to reach the rim of the 1,000­ foot (300 m) wide Cone Crater. However, the two astronauts were not able to find the rim amid the rolling terrain of the crater's slopes. Later analysis, using the pictures that they took, determined that they had come within 65 feet of the crater's rim.

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Shepard and Mitchell deployed and activated various scientific instruments and experiments and collected almost 100 pounds (45 kg) of lunar samples for return to earth. Other Apollo 14 achievements included: first use of Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET); largest payload placed in lunar orbit; longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; largest payload returned from the lunar surface; longest lunar surface stay time (33 hours); longest lunar surface EVA (9 hours and 17 minutes); first use of shortened lunar orbit rendezvous techniques; first use of color TV with new vidicon tube on lunar surface; and first extensive orbital science period conducted during CSM solo operations.

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On the way back to Earth, the crew conducted the first U.S. materials processing experiments in space. The Apollo 14 astronauts were the last lunar explorers to be quarantined on their return from the Moon.

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Shepard and Mitchell named their landing site Fra Mauro Base, and this designation is recognized by the International Astronomical Union (depicted in Latin on lunar maps as Statio Fra Mauro).

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Mission notes

• Shepard is the only astronaut from Project Mercury (the orginal seven astronauts) to reach the Moon.
• Shepard smuggled a makeshift six iron golf club and two golf balls to the moon, and took several swings. He exuberantly, and somewhat whimsically, exclaimed that the second ball went "miles and miles and miles" in the lunar gravity, but later estimated it actually went 200 to 400 yards (200 to 400 m). Mitchell then used a lunar scoop handle as a javelin, creating the first 'Lunar Olympics'.
• Mitchell conducted some unauthorized extra-sensory perception experiments while en route to the Moon, with friends back on Earth; the number of matches were reportedly less than would have been obtained by random chance.
• Shepherd's moonwalking suit was the first to incorporate red bands on the arms and legs, and a red stripe on the top of the lunar EVA sunshade "hood," as to allow easy identification of the commander while on the surface; on the Apollo 12 pictures, it had been almost impossible to distinguish between the two crewmen, causing a great deal of confusion. This feature was on James Lovell's Apollo 13 suit, but because of the accident, this was not used. It was used on the remaining three Apollo flights and is used on both the U.S. and Russian spacesuits on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station.

The mission's command module Kitty Hawk is displayed at the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Titusville, Florida and the lunar module Antares impacted the Moon 7 February, 1971 at 3.42 S, 19.67 W.

Related Topics:
Astronaut Hall of Fame - Titusville, Florida - 7 February - 1971

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Quotes

"It's been a long way, but we're here."

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Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

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"I think you're all finks."

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Edgar B. Mitchell. (said in response to Cmdr. Shepard's suggestion to turn back during their second EVA, where they came within 65 feet (21 m) of the rim of the 1,000­ foot (300 m) wide Cone Crater that they were looking for)

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