Soar Together @ Air and Space is a monthly family program from the National Air and Space Museum. Through live events and interactive activities you can do anytime, your family will explore a different air and space topic every month.

We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon! Find out what made this mission stand out from the other Apollo missions, and experience what it takes to join a team of lunar explorers, through videos, activities, and games:

Anytime Activities! 

Many remember Apollo 11 as an important mission for lunar firsts, but the Apollo 15 mission also had many important firsts that paved the way for future missions and beyond.

Explore some key highlights of the Apollo 15 mission through this interactive timeline.

The Apollo 15 mission was all about rocks and rovers!

Apollo 15 was the first time astronauts drove a vehicle — the Lunar Roving Vehicle or LRV — on the Moon.  

Compare the paths that the astronauts travelled on the Moon.

Apollo 15 Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV)
Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott driving the LRV.

We have a Lunar Rover Vehicle test model at the Museum. Visit our Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar with maker and Savage Builds host Adam Savage and get an up close look at a Lunar Roving Vehicle test model. (LRV section starts at 5:24)

Watch below or on YouTube.

Apollo 15 was the first mission where astronauts focused on doing science experiments and collecting rock samples.

The Apollo 15 team trained many hours to learn how to identify moon rocks, practice observing landscapes and using special collecting tools. Rock scientists called geologists made a plan for where the astronauts would collect rocks, and made a list of what rocks they wanted them to collect.

two men dig a shallow trench
Apollo 15 astronauts train for the mission — specifically sample collection — in New Mexico.

Now it’s your turn! Learn how to be a team of Lunar Explorers by doing fun science and art activities:

  • Moon Mission Training: Create your own lunar landscape and practice collecting rocks like astronauts do (for families with kids ages 4 - 8)
  • Learn about lunar geology and do activities like identifying rocks, making craters, and making your own moon dust (for all ages)
  • Surviving on the Moon: Explore what is needed to be prepared for emergencies, and apply this thinking to make a list of survival equipment for moon exploration (for families with kids ages 8 and up)

Women of Apollo

Although no women traveled to the Moon as part of the Apollo program (though at least one woman will be traveling to the Moon as part of the first Artemis mission) there were a small number of women involved in the Apollo program, including engineers, mathematicians, and doctors. Hear from three women who worked on Apollo missions to learn about how they got involved in the program, their inspiration, and obstacles they faced.

Want to hear more from these inspiring women? See the full Women of Apollo lecture, part of the John H. Glenn Lectures in Space History series.

Soar Together @ Air and Space is made possible by the generous support of Northrop Grumman.

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