Apollo 15

 

The side of the moon that always faces Earth

For many centuries, Man had dreamed of flying to the Moon.

Locations of six Apollo flights to the moon with mission numbers

And then, suddenly, as it seemed, by 1972 six flights had been made to Earth's sole satellite. This is the story of one of them. 

Apollo 15 on its Launch Pad

On July 6, 1971, NASA launched one of the most ambitious and spectacular space missions in history - Apollo 15.

Apollo 15 Rocket Launch

At 12.34 GMT, the giant Saturn 5 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

It carried Commander Dave Scott, Command Module Pilot Al Worden, and Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin into an orbit circling the Earth.

Full moon over Earth viewed from the International Space Station

About three hours after the launch, engines were reignited for the journey to the Moon. 

The Apollo space craft leaves Earth orbit for the Moon.

Turning 180° in Space

After setting a course for the Moon, the four adapter plates on the sides of the spacecraft were ejected, releasing the Command and Service Module Endeavour. Al Worden manoeuvred the spacecraft around 180° and nudged it into contact with the Lunar Module Falcon, which was nested inside the third stage of the rocket.

The Command and Service Module Endeavour

Extraction of Falcon

After making contact and latching the two spacecraft together, Endeavour then extracted Falcon from the hollow upper stage of the rocket,

Command and Service Module Endeavour

and the combined spacecraft was on its way to the Moon.

Lunar Orbit Insertion

The spacecraft passed about 110 km behind the Moon, and the Service Module engine was fired to slow the spacecraft down and place Apollo 15 into an elliptical lunar orbit .

Earlier Moon Landings

Apollo 11: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon.

A post about landing on the Moon should begin with an image of Neil Armstrong, who was the first man to set foot there, but, strangely enough, no decent photos exist of his doing so. Apparently, he shunned the limelight, leaving the prestige to Lunar Module Pilot, Buzz Aldrin. On stepping down onto the surface, Neil's first words were recorded as: "That's one small step for Man, and a giant leap for Mankind". But that doesn't make a lot of sense. Controversy has raged ever since about that missing 'a'.

Close-up of Aldrin’s face mask

Neil Armstrong took the photo, and his image as well as Aldrin’s shadow can be clearly seen in it.

Rubbish on the Moon

The first photograph taken on the Moon by Neil Armstrong featured a trash bag. Scientists estimate that Mankind has left over 413,000 pounds of material on the Moon. That colossal junk heap includes three moon buggies.

Another much smaller peace of junk left just lying on the lunar surface is a plaque claiming it was planted there by 'men from earth', (obviously) insisting that they came 'in peace' (although there was nobody there to fight any war with). One is bound to wonder whether this is an unconscious allusion to the American war in Vietnam that was still raging after 14 years. The claim that they came ‘for all mankind’ was manifestly false. Their naked purpose was to outstrip the Soviet Union, with whom they had refused to cooperate in a joint lunar venture.

                                    Apollo 12 on Launch Pad

Apollo 12 was the sixth crewed flight in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. Apollo 12's spacecraft and launch vehicle were almost identical to Apollo 11's. One addition was hammocks to allow the landing crew to rest more comfortably on the Moon. On November 19, Charles Conrad and Alan Bean achieved a precise landing at their expected location within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 robotic probe, which had landed on April 20, 1967.

Surveyor 3 Robotic Probe

On the second of two moonwalks, they visited Surveyor 3 and removed parts for return to Earth.

Apollo 13 Command Module on board U.S.S. Iwo Jima 

Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Centre on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon and returned safely to Earth on April 17.

Edgar Mitchell, Lunar Module Pilot leaving the Command Module after splashdown.

Apollo 14 was the eighth crewed mission in the Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. During the two walks the two astronauts, Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa roamed the surface, collecting 42 kg of Moon rocks and deployed several scientific experiments.

Apollo 15

                                                       The Lunar Rover

Apollo 15 was a leap forward in the Moon landing program. Previous missions had been limited to two days on the Moon, during which the astronauts were able to walk only short distances from their Lunar Modules. Now, they could remain for three days on the Moon and range much further afield by means of an effective Lunar Rover.

Apollo 15 Landing Site

In David Scott's opinion, the decision to land Apollo 15 at Hadley was perfect, since Hadley had more variety than did the alternatives. "There is", he said, "a certain intangible quality which drives the spirit of exploration and I felt that Hadley had it. Besides, it looked beautiful and usually when things look good they are good."

Alan Shephard

That assertion caused Alan Shepard, the Apollo 14 commander, who was awaiting a television interview, to grumble, "To hell with that shit, give us details of the burn."

He was referring to a planned engine firing on the far side of the moon when Apollo 15 was out of contact with the Earth.

The exact spot where Apollo 15 landed is marked in red. If you look closely, you can see Hadley Rille (Rima Hadley), one of the many winding cracks on the surface of the moon. They are thought to belong to the Moon’s primal crust.

The Apollo 15 landing site viewed from the opposite side.

I would assume that the crater in the middle of the photo is Archimedes.

Now, if Americans first came to the moon, as claimed on the sign they left there at the end of their first mission, ‘for all mankind’ then why did they, on every single mission, plant an American flag there and salute it? Why did every moon mission have to be sanctified by an act of chauvinism?

The United Nations Flag

Surely, it would have been more appropriate to plant the flag of the United Nations there. Anyway, every one of these emblems of vanity left on the Moon will have faded into indistinctness by now, adding to the estimated 400,000 pounds of human trash left on our closest earthly neighbour.

Hadley Rille

The mission began when Command Module Pilot, David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot, James Irwin, landed near Hadley Rille and explored the local area using the rover, allowing them to travel further from the Lunar Module than had been possible on previous missions. 

Dave Scott drilling in the lunar soil

This is a panoramic shot which includes Dave Scott crouching over a drill used to take core samples of the lunar surface.

A photo showing the Earth over the Moon.  

Testing the Lunar Rover

David Scott tests the steering mechanisms of the Lunar Rover before the second session of extra vehicular activity.

James Irwin with the Lunar Rover

James Irwin works at the Lunar Rover Vehicle during the first Apollo 15 moonwalk. Mount Hadley, 4,500 m, is in the background.

James Irwin explores the landscape near Hadley Rille

Astronauts Irwin and Scott performed 18.5 hours of extra vehicular activity on the Moon's surface using the rover, and collected 370 individual rocks and soil samples during their exploration.

Command Module Piolet Al Worden in Training 

Meanwhile, Al Worden circled the Moon 34 times in the Command Module. In the photo, he is training for his role at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“Falcon” on the Plain at Hadley

Exploration of the lunar surface at Hadley. Mission Commander David Scott and the Lunar Rover can be seen in the distance.

Photo pinpointing the location of Hadley Rille and the Lunar Module with the Lunar Rover 5km away.

"The Apollo 15 landing site with rover tracks, astronaut footprints and equipment will be much the same today as when the crew departed in July 1971", some hack wrote obliviously. But it will not at all be the same as it was before the astronauts arrived! 

Lunar Module "Falcon", seen from "Endeavour"

Meanwhile, during the near three-day exploration of Hadley, the Apollo 15 command and service module "Endeavour", piloted by Al Worden, circled the moon 34 times. 

One of the Apollo 15 postal covers

Apollo 15 accomplished its goals but was marred by negative publicity the following year when it emerged that the crew had carried unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface.

The Crew of Apollo 15

They had intended to sell them to earn money reputedly for their children's education, but they were reprimanded for poor judgment, and did not fly in space again.

Lunar Module ascent stage "Falcon"

The Lunar Module ascent stage is photographed from the Command and Service Module (CSM) during rendezvous in lunar orbit. The Lunar Module (LM) was making its docking approach to the CSM.

Earthrise over Lunar Surface

Craters Gibbs and Schorr are visible from the Apollo 15 command module.

 Al Worden's Extravehicular Activity (EVA)

On the second day of the return journey to Earth, Al Worden performed a 39-minute EVA to retrieve film cassettes from the service module's scientific instrument module (SIM) bay. He was the first man ever to perform a task in deep space.

View of Earth from Apollo 15

The Command Module by David Teixidor

An artist’s impression of the Command Module with the three astronauts seated inside it.

Apollo 15 Descent to Earth

With one of its three parachutes failing to open, the Apollo 15 Command Module is about to splash down into the Pacific Ocean.

Apollo 15 Splashes into the Pacific Ocean

Retrieval of Apollo 15 and Its Crew 

The Apollo 15 astronauts and their Command Module were retrieved from the sea by frogmen of the U.S.S. Okinawa on August 7, 1971

Hoisting of the Command Module

Apollo 15 Recovery frogmen prepare to hoist the Command Module aboard the U.S.S. Okinawa.

Apollo 15 Command Module

The Apollo 15 Command Module had suffered a little disintegration in its plunge to Earth, but now it suffers the ignominy of being a mere museum piece.

Who knows how long the Apollo program would have gone on if the public had been willing to finance it?

But they were not. All the razzmatazz had gone out of it, and the 1970s oil crisis was looming.

1935 Film: Dancing On The Moon

NASA brought its moon fantasy program to an end with two last moon shots.

Charles Duke during a moonwalk

Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke standing on the rim of Plum crater, which is 40 meters in diameter and about 10 meters deep.

Picture from a Nitwit

Others have left their trash on the moon but this idiot has absolutely trivialised the whole affair with his particular piece of trash: a family photo! It seems that the story of the American moon landings began in drama and ended in farce.

Eugene Cernan

Apollo 17: Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk upon the moon.