Apollo 16In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts landed for a fifth manned mission to the moon's surface. The Lunar Module Orionwith John W. Young and Charles M. Duke set down in the central lunar highlands to explore a different terrain than any previous astronauts had seen. The crew travelled almost 27-km using their lunar rover. They deployed or performed nine experiments, collected lunar material samples at 11 sites, and took photographs. The two remained for 71 hours on the moon's surface, before returning, lifting off on 24 Apr. Thomas K. Mattingly remained in orbit as the pilot of the Command Module Casper. They had launched on 16 Apr 1972 from the Kennedy Space Center, and reached earth again on 27 Apr. Later the same yearApollo 17, the last manned lunar landing mission was launched on 7 Dec 1972.« |
