science · 05 February 1971 · 53 years ago
In 1971, Apollo 14, the third US manned Moon expedition, landed with two astronauts in the lunar highlands near the crater Fra Mauro. Commander Alan B. Shepard and Lunar Module pilot Edgar D. Mitchell became the fifth and sixth men to walk on the Moon. During this four-hour activity, they deployed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) containing scientific experiments to be left on the lunar surface and other scientific and sample collection apparatus. Before lifting off on the next day (6 Feb 1971), the astronauts went on another moonwalk almost to the rim of nearby Cone crater, collecting 42.9-kg of samples along the traverse. At the end of this 3.45-km walk, Shepard used a contingency sampler with a 6-iron connected to the end to hit two golf balls.
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