Apollo Landing Sites with Moon Phases

Apollo 16 landed on the Moon at 8:23 p.m. Houston time on April 20, 1972 (April 21 at 2:23 UTC). Their site north of Descartes crater was the only Apollo site in purely highlands terrain, where the surface is older, lighter in color, and more heavily cratered, in contrast to the darker basalts of the maria. Commander John Young and Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke explored the surface in their lunar rover, traveling a total of 16.7 miles (26.9 km) and collecting 211 pounds (95.7 kg) of samples, while Command Module Pilot Thomas K. Mattingly performed experiments from orbit.For the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission, the video presented here uses elevation maps and images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to visualize the area around the landing site and the routes taken by the astronauts over three days of extravehicular activities (EVAs). The video begins with the camera flying west over the terrain the astronauts saw as they came in for a landing, and it ends with a dramatic view of North Ray crater, the destination of their EVA on Day 3. The camera flies from the east to the Apollo 16 landing site, then flies north to North Ray crater. Includes an introductory slate, astronaut audio, and music.Music provided by Universal Production Music: The Orion Arm Christian Telford, David Travis Edwards, Matthew St Laurent, and Robert Anthony Navarro.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. The camera flies from the east to the Apollo 16 landing site, then flies north to North Ray crater. This is the as-rendered visualization.

Apollo 15 landed on the Moon at 5:16 p.m. Houston time (22:16 UTC) on July 30, 1971. Two hours later, Commander Dave Scott and Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin depressurized the cabin of the Lunar Module and opened the top hatch. Scott then stood on the ascent engine cover, poked his head through the hatch, and for the next 25 minutes described and photographed the terrain of their landing site in the Hadley-Apennine region. This was the stand-up extravehicular activity (SEVA), an opportunity to quickly survey and report on the lunar landscape they and Pluton crater. St. George: The camera flies over the surface and across Hadley Rille toward St. George crater. South Complex: The camera flies across the surface toward the south secondary crater complex, which is initially hidden behind a shallow ridge.

Apollo 14 landed on the Moon a little after 3:00 a.m. Houston time on February 5, 1971. The landing site in the Fra Mauro highlands had originally been the destination of Apollo 13 ten months earlier. The site is on the edge of a debris field created by the impact that formed Cone crater, 330 meters in diameter and about 1.5 kilometers away.On their second moonwalk, astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell hiked toward the crater, collecting samples of crater ejecta along the way. In theory, rocks blasted from the impact that lay closer to the crater were from deeper beneath the surface, creating a sequence that sampled the lunar crust down to the depth of the crater. But navigating to the crater was difficult. It was on the far side of a fairly steep incline and was never visible to the astronauts as they walked toward it, and they struggled to match features on their map with what they saw on the ground.Images of the site from the Narrow Angle Camera on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter record the path of the astronauts as a clearly visible trail of darker, disturbed regolith. Although they didn t know it at the time, Shepard and Mitchell came within 40 meters (135 feet) of the rim of Cone crater, close enough to collect some of the deepest ejecta, but not close enough to actually see the crater itself.This visualization uses LRO images and elevation data to recreate EVA 2, the hike to Cone crater. The camera flies near the ground, along the outbound path taken by the astronauts. Stops along the way are labeled with distance and elevation information. The journey ends by showing how close the astronauts came to a spectacular view of the crater. Full Video with Narration: This video describes the hike toward Cone crater by Apollo 14 astronauts Al Shepard and Ed Mitchell, using a visualization created from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data.Music provided by Universal Production Music: “Taking Flight” – Ben Beiny.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. Visualization only: The camera flies along the path of the second EVA of Apollo 14, ending with a view of Cone crater.

Apollo 12 landed on the Moon a little before 1:00 a.m. Houston time on November 19, 1969, four months after Apollo 11. The Lunar Module, nicknamed Intrepid and flown by Charles - Axel Tenner, Michael Schluecker, Raphael Schalz. The Apollo 12 landing site visualized in three dimensions using photography and a stereo digital elevation model from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.

On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission concluded with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. This 1969 documentary showcases how NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, supported the historic mission.Complete transcript available.

NASA Explorers: Apollo is an audio series that tells stories about our Moon and the people who explore it. During the Apollo program, the Moon became a part of the human domain. Twelve astronauts walked on the lunar surface, conducted research there and collected Moon rocks to bring back to Earth for study. Fifty years after humanity’s first steps on the Moon, today’s lunar scientists are searching for answers to the big questions: How did the Moon form? How did our solar system evolve? Did the Moon help life on Earth get its start?Meet a Moon detective, scientists who study space rocks and people from all over the world whose lives were shaped by the epic adventures of the Apollo program. You can listen to NASA Explorers: Apollo on:Apple PodcastsSoundCloudGoogle PlayFacebook WatchThe multimedia assets are available for download on this page. NASA Explorers: Apollo is an audio series that tells stories of the Moon and the people who explore it. Coming soon, you can listen to NASA Explorers: Apollo on: Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Google Play and Facebook Watch. Music: Tycho s data represents the number of articles, citations and patents dated in that year and returned by Google Scholar when applying a certain set of keywords.Credit: SYSTEM Sounds/Matt Russo and Andrew SantaguidaComplete transcript available. The artwork in this commemorative poster celebrates the spirit of exploration we carry with us as we go forward to the Moon. The astronaut, ever-reaching, keeps their gaze locked on our Moon. Behind the astronaut, a circular window into star-studded outer space beckons, showing that our mission to explore the great beyond doesn’t end with the Moon. This is only the beginning. Credit: NASA/Stephanie Zeller NASA Moon data expert Ernie Wright created this digital 3D model of the Moon using global elevation maps and image mosaics from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. The lighting is derived from actual Sun angles during lunar days in 2018.Credits: NASA/LRO/Ernie Wright Left: Denis Petro is a doctor and biomedical engineer who helped NASA ensure the Apollo astronauts stayed alive, healthy and comfortable while exploring the Moon. This newspaper article from 1972 commends Petro for his research on measuring pain thresholds. Right: In a photo taken by his father, NASA lunar scientist Noah Petro stands in front of an Apollo-era Saturn V rocket on display at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Denis later had the photo signed by Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Credit: Photos courtesy of Noah Petro NASA scientists Sarah Valencia, Barbara Cohen and Natalie Curran hold lunar rock and soil samples collected during the Apollo missions. NASA’s Mid-Atlantic Noble Gas Research Laboratory (MNGRL) studies rocks from the Moon and Mars to learn more about their age, which sheds light on how our solar system formed.Credit: NASA/Molly Wasser During the Apollo program, six crews of astronauts landed on the Moon and installed science experiments on the lunar surface. This label outlines the information contained on a tape full of restored data from the Apollo 17 mission.Credits: NASA/Patrick Taylor Episode 1: Giant LeapsFull episodeWhat does a half-century of lunar science sound like? Join Moon data expert Ernie Wright on a musical time-traveling journey through the Apollo program and the exploration era of today. We explore what we knew about the Moon before Apollo, what we discovered because of it and the mysteries today’s scientists are working to solve.Elena, from Nantes, France, shares her memory of watching the Apollo 11 landing from a friend’s house in Seattle.Listen to the NASA Explorers: Apollo audio series. Data sonification by Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida of SYSTEM SoundsMusic by Lee Rosevere and Daniel WytanisComplete transcript available. Episode 2: The Family Moon BusinessFull episode Lunar exploration runs in the family for the Petros. NASA lunar scientist Noah Petro interviews his father, Denis, about his work as an Apollo program engineer. In a heartfelt conversation, Noah and his dad examine the human impact of the momentous Apollo 11 mission and their shared passion for science and learning. Ginny from Danville, Kentucky, tells a story about celebrating the Moon landing with her childhood friends and a secret lemonade stand.Music by Lee Rosevere and Daniel WytanisComplete transcript available. Episode 3: Moon GirlFull episodeMeet the scientists who are making big discoveries by studying some very tiny rocks. The women of NASA’s Mid-Atlantic Noble Gas Research Laboratory (MNGRL) are getting ready to analyze never-before-seen Moon samples. These samples, collected by Apollo astronauts and brought back to Earth, have been carefully preserved for half a century so they could be studied by future generations of scientists. Sophie, a 13-year-old from Athens, Greece, shares how lunar exploration inspires her to become an astrophysicist.Music by Lee Rosevere and Daniel WytanisComplete transcript available. Episode 4: Moon DetectiveFull episodeWhat happened to the lost data from the Apollo era? Get to know the “data detectives” who are tracking it down. The science experiments the Apollo astronauts conducted from the surface of the Moon provide a long-term data record that’s crucial to understanding our Moon as a complete system. Today’s scientists are looking forward to future human exploration of the Moon and the discoveries to follow. Ketan from Sugarland, Texas, tells us about his childhood in Mumbai, India, and how his father made sure his children got a firsthand look at the Moon landing.Music by Lee Rosevere and Daniel WytanisComplete transcript available. For More InformationSee [nasa.gov/apollostories](nasa.gov/apollostories)