Apollo 16

Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fifth mission to land on the Moon.

Mission highlights

A malfunction in a yaw gimbal servo loop in the main propulsion system of the CSM "Casper" caused concerns about firing the engine to adjust the CSM's lunar orbit, and nearly caused the Moon landing to be scrubbed. But it was decided that the malfunction presented relatively little risk, and Young and Duke (who were already undocked, and flying LM "Orion" when the problem occurred) were permitted to land on the Moon. However, the mission was shortened by a day (reducing the time in orbit around the Moon after the LM left the Moon and docked with the CSM), as a safety measure.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Young and Duke spent three days exploring the Descartes highland region, while Mattingly circled overhead in "Casper." The astronauts discovered that what was thought to have been a region of volcanism was actually a region full of impact-formed rocks (breccias). Their collection of returned specimens included an 25 pound (11 kg) chunk that was the largest single rock returned by the Apollo astronauts (nicknamed Big Muley). The Apollo 16 astronauts also conducted performance tests with the lunar rover, at one time getting up to a top speed of 11 miles per hour (18 kilometers per hour), which still stands as the record speed for any wheeled vehicle on the Moon (listed as such in the Guinness Book of Records).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Introduction

The crew members: John W. Young, commander; Ken Mattingly, command module pilot; and Charles Duke, lunar module pilot. It was a J-class mission, featuring a Lunar Rover. It brought back 94.7 kg of lunar samples. It included three lunar EVA: 7.2 hours, 7.4 hours, 5.7 hours and one trans-earth EVA of 1.4. This was only the second trans-earth EVA ever and was used to bring in film from exterior cameras and conduct an experiment on microbial survival.

Related Topics:
John W. Young - Ken Mattingly - Charles Duke - Lunar Rover - EVA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Apollo 16 subsatellite was launched from the CSM while it was in lunar orbit. The subsatellite carried out experiments on magnetic fields and solar particles. It was launched April 24, 1972 at 21:56:09 UTC and orbited the Moon for 34 days and 425 revolutions. It had a mass of 80 lb (36.3 kg) and consisted of a central cylinder and three 1.5 m booms.

Related Topics:
April 24 - 1972

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Relics

The command module is currently at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, in Huntsville, Alabama. The lunar module separated 24 April 1972 but a loss of attitude control rendered it out of control. It orbited the Moon for about a year. Its impact site on the Moon is unknown.

Related Topics:
U.S. Space & Rocket Center - Huntsville, Alabama - 24 April - 1972

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~