Apollo 15 was the fourth mission to land men on the Moon. It was
the first mission to use a lunar rover, to feature three EVAs and
to launch a subsatellite in lunar orbit. It was the ninth manned
mission in the Apollo Program.
The Apollo 15 Crew :
1. David R. Scott (Commander)
He was also the Pilot on Gemini VIII (March 16, 1966) and Command Module
Pilot on Apollo 9 (March 3-13, 1969).
2. James B. Irwin (Lunar Module Pilot)
3. Alfred M. Worden (Command Module Pilot)
The crew for Apollo 15 had previously served as the backup crew for Apollo 12.
Apollo 15 Backup Crew were:
- Richard F. Gordon (Commander)
- Vance Brand (Command Module Pilot)
- Harrison H. Schmitt (Lunar Module pilot)
The aims of the mission were:
1. To explore the lunar surface, survey and sample material in
the Hadley-Apennine region.
Exploration and geological investigations at the Hadley-Apennine
site were enhanced by the addition of the lunar rover that allowed
Scott and Irwin to travel greater distances from the LM than they
could on foot during their three EVAs.
2. To make engineering evaluations of new Apollo equipment.
With an additional battery and more life support supplies, the
redesigned Apollo LM could make longer missions. This alteration
resulted in moon
exploration time being doubled to almost 67 hours. The crew benefited from an improved spacesuit.
A diagonal entry strip
enabled an additional hip joint to be inserted. This enabled the
wearer to bend over and to sit in the rover. It also allowed the
astronauts to spend more time outside the lunar module.
3. To set up and activate lunar surface scientific experiments.
The Apollo lunar surface experiment package (ALSEP) was the third
operating ALSEP along with Apollo 12 and 14.
4. To conduct lunar orbital experiments and photographic tasks.
Before launch, the crew had received intensive in-the-field
training by Caltech geologist Lee Silver. This was aimed to help
the astronauts describe the lunar geology to Earth-based scientist
and would greatly increase the effectiveness of the EVA crew.
15 was launched on a
rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida at 9:34am EST on
26 July, 1971. The Command Service Module was called Endeavour and
the Lunar Module was called Falcon.
Falcon Lunar Module landed on the moon
6:16 pm EDT on 30 July 1971. The Apollo 15 landing site was
Hadley-Apennine region near Apennine Mountains (27N 4E).
Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin spent
three days on the Moon on the lunar extra-vehicular activity
(EVAs, Moonwalks), while Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden
conducted observations aboard the orbital module.
The astronauts completed three EVAs, one each day for three
separate days, spending more than 18 hours on the lunar surface.
They travelled a total 27km (17 miles) in the rover, exploring the
beautiful canyon of Hadley Rille, plains and deltas. They set up
an ALSEP and gathered 76.6 kgs (169 lbs) of interesting rocks,
including the "genesis" rock, thought to date from the early solar
system and a rock that contained tiny spheres of green glass.
During the third EVA, commander David Scott dropped a feather and a hammer at the base of Mount
Hadley Delta. This was to demonstrate that in an airless
environment, all objects fall at the same speed regardless of
Liftoff of the Lunar Module ascent stage occurred on August 2. After Falcon's return to Endeavour, the Lunar Module was crashed in the
surface to calibrate all three ALSEP seismometers. Then a
scientific satellite was launched from Endeavour into orbit around
the Moon. This was the first time a satellite was left in lunar
orbit. It continued to send date to Earth for nearly a year.
On the way back to Earth (5 August 1971), Apollo 15 astronaut Alfred M. Worden
conducted the first space walk between Earth and the Moon
to retrieve film from the side of the spacecraft. He became the
first human to take a walk in deep space about 197,000 miles
(317,041km) from Earth. The walk lasted about 16 minutes.
Earth re-entry and descent, one of the 3 parachutes failed to open
fully. As a result, descent velocity was 4.5km/hr (2.8mph) faster
than planned. The Command Module splashed down at 4:45pm EDT on
August 7, 1971 in the Pacific Ocean. The recovery ship was USS
Summary Stats of the Mission
Lunar Orbits: 74 revolutions (145
Duration: 12 Days, 17 hours, 12 min
Lunar Location: Hadley-Apennine
Lunar landing Co-ordinates: 26.08 degrees North, 3.66
Time on Lunar Surface (total): 66 hr. 54 min. 53 sec.
Mission Duration: 295 hr. 11 min. 53 sec.
Lunar Rover Weight: 209kg
Did you know?
Apollo 15 Patch was designed by Emilio Pucci and artwork by Jerry
Flags were carried on Apollo 15 mission and returned to Earth
included 25 United States flags, state and territories flags, and
flags of all the United Nations members, each four by six inches.
The Apennines rise up to more than 4572 m (15,000 ft) along the
south-eastern edge of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The Apennine
escarpment is the highest on the Moon.
* Apollo 15 manned lunar landing mission was the first in a
series of three advanced missions planned for the Apollo program. The first
manned moon landing was