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Apollo 16
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Apollo 16
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Apollo 16 Facts
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The Apollo Program
Lunar Module: Orion
Command and Service Module:

Casper

Crew: John W. Young, commander
Thomas K. Mattingly II, command module pilot
Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilot
Launch: April 16, 1972
17:54:00 UT (12:54:00 p.m. EST)
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A
Landing Site: Descartes
(8° 59' 29'' S, 15° 30' 52'' E)
Landed on Moon: April 21, 1972
02:23:35 UT (April 20 9:23:35 p.m. EST)
EVA duration: total 20 hr. 14 min. [3 EVAs]
Lunar Surface Traversed: 27 kilometers
Moon Rocks Collected: 95.8 kilograms
LM Departed Moon: April 24, 1972
01:25:48 UT (April 23 8:25:48 p.m. EST)
Time on Lunar Surface: 71 hr. 2 min.
Returned to Earth: April 27, 1972
splashdown 19:45:05 UT (2:45:05 p.m. EST)
Mission Duration: 265 hr. 51 min. 5 sec.
Retrieval site: Pacific Ocean 0° 43' S, 156° 13' W
Retrieval ship: U.S.S. Ticonderoga
Highlights/Notes:
  • Second mission with a lunar roving vehicle (LRV) that could transport two astronauts. The LRV could also carry tools, scientific equipment, communications gear, and lunar samples.
  • First uses of the Moon as an astronomical observatory.
  • Thomas K. Mattingly performed 2 cislunar EVAs totalling 1 hr. 24 min.
  • After LM separation from CSM, LM tumbled and planned lunar impact was not attempted. LM remained in orbit w/estimated lifetime of 1 year, impact site unknown.