Apollo 14

Encyclopedia : A : AP : APO : Apollo 14

**Apollo 14**
Mission insignia

Mission statistics
Mission name:	Apollo 14
Call Signs:	Command module: Kitty Hawk Lunar module: Antares
Number of crew:	3
Launch:	January 31, 1971 21:03:02 UTC Kennedy Space Center LC 39A
Lunar landing:	February 5, 1971 09:18:11 UTC 3° 38' 43.08" S - 17° 28' 16.90" W Fra Mauro
Lunar EVA length:	1st: 4 h 47 min 50 s 2nd: 4 h 34 min 41 s Total: 9 h 22 min 31 s
Lunar surface time:	33 h 30 min 29 s
Lunar sample mass:	42.28 kg (93.21 lb)
Splashdown:	February 9, 1971 21:05:00 UTC 27° 1' S - 172° 39' W
Duration:	9 d 0 h 1 min 58 s
Number of lunar orbits:	34
Time in lunar orbit:	66 h 35 min 39.99 s
Mass:	CSM 29,240 kg; LM 15,264 kg
Crew picture
Apollo 14 crew portrait (L-R: Roosa, Shepard, and Mitchell)
Apollo 14 crew

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the Moon.

Contents

1 Crew

1.1 Backup crew
1.2 Support crew

2 Mission parameters

2.1 LM - CSM docking
2.2 EVAs

2.2.1 '''EVA 1 start''':
2.2.2 '''EVA 2 start''':

2.3 See also

3 Mission highlights

3.1 Mission notes

4 Mission insignia

4.1 Quotes

5 Media
6 See also
7 External links

7.1 References

Crew

Alan Shepard (flew on Mercury-Redstone 3 & Apollo 14), commander
Stuart Roosa (flew on Apollo 14), command module pilot
Edgar Mitchell (flew on Apollo 14), lunar module pilot

Backup crew

Gene Cernan, commander
Ron Evans, command module pilot
Joe Engle, lunar module pilot

Support crew

Mission parameters

Mass: CSM 29,240 kg; LM 15,264 kg
Perigee: 183.2 km
Apogee: 188.9 km
Inclination: 31.12°
Period: 88.18 min

Perilune: 108.2 km
Apolune: 314.1 km
Inclination: °
Period: 120 min
Landing Site: [3.64530° S - 17.47136° W] or
3° 38' 43.08" S - 17° 28' 16.90" W

LM - CSM docking

Undocked: February 5, 1971 - 04:50:43 UTC
Docked: February 6, 1971 - 20:35:42 UTC

EVAs

EVA 1 start:
Shepard - EVA 1
Stepped onto moon: 14:54 UTC
LM ingress: 19:22 UTC

Mitchell - EVA 1
Stepped onto moon: 14:58 UTC
LM ingress: 19:18 UTC

EVA 1 end: February 5, 19:30:50 UTC
*Duration: 4 hours, 47 minutes, 50 seconds

EVA 2 start:
Shepard - EVA 2
Stepped onto moon: 08:16 UTC
LM ingress: 12:38 UTC

Mitchell - EVA 2
Stepped onto moon: 08:23 UTC
LM ingress: 12:28 UTC

EVA 2 end: February 6, 12:45:56 UTC
*Duration: 4 hours, 34 minutes, 41 seconds

Mission highlights

Apollo 14 LM is placed in LM Adapter. (NASA)

Launch of Apollo 14

Alan Shepard on lunar surface. (NASA)

Depiction of the plaque left on the moon by Apollo 14

On the way down, the LM "Antares" had two problems. First, the LM computer began getting an ABORT signal from the ABORT switch. NASA believed that the computer might be getting erroneous readings like this if a tiny ball of soldering material had shaken loose and was floating between the switch and the contact, closing the circuit. The immediate solution - tapping on the panel next to the switch - did work, but if the problem recurred after the descent engine fired, the computer would think the signal was real and would initiate the sequence to blow the Ascent Stage back into orbit. NASA and the software teams at MIT scrambled to find a more permanent solution - reprogramming the computer to ignore the signal - and Shepard and Mitchell were able to accomplish this just in time.

The second problem was the failure of the radar to lock onto the moon's surface. Eventually, at close to the last possible moment, it started working. Shepard landed the LM closer to its intended mark than any of the other five moon landing missions.

After landing in the Fra Mauro formation - the destination for Apollo 13 - Shepard and Mitchell took two moonwalks, adding new seismic studies to the by now familiar Apollo experiment package, and using a "lunar rickshaw" pull cart to carry their equipment. Roosa, meanwhile, took pictures from on board command module "Kitty Hawk" in lunar orbit.

The second moonwalk, or EVA, was intended to reach the rim of the 1,000 foot (300 m) wide Cone Crater. However, the two astronauts were not able to find the rim amid the rolling terrain of the crater's slopes. Later analysis, using the pictures that they took, determined that they had come within 65 feet of the crater's rim.

Shepard and Mitchell deployed and activated various scientific instruments and experiments and collected almost 100 pounds (45 kg) of lunar samples for return to earth. Other Apollo 14 achievements included: first use of Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET); largest payload placed in lunar orbit; longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; largest payload returned from the lunar surface; longest lunar surface stay time (33 hours); longest lunar surface EVA (9 hours and 17 minutes); first use of shortened lunar orbit rendezvous techniques; first use of color TV with new vidicon tube on lunar surface; and first extensive orbital science period conducted during CSM solo operations.

On the way back to Earth, the crew conducted the first U.S. materials processing experiments in space. The Apollo 14 astronauts were the last lunar explorers to be quarantined on their return from the Moon.

Shepard and Mitchell named their landing site Fra Mauro Base, and this designation is recognized by the International Astronomical Union (depicted in Latin on lunar maps as Statio Fra Mauro).

Mission notes

Shepard is the only astronaut from Project Mercury (the original seven astronauts) to reach the Moon. Another of the original seven, Gordon Cooper, had originally been scheduled to command the mission, but according to Chaikin, his casual attitude toward training resulted in his relief.
Shepard smuggled a makeshift six iron golf club and two golf balls to the moon, and took several swings. He exuberantly, and somewhat whimsically, exclaimed that the second ball went "miles and miles and miles" in the lunar gravity, but later estimated it actually went 200 to 400 yards (200 to 400 m). Mitchell then used a lunar scoop handle as a javelin, creating the first 'Lunar Olympics'.
Mitchell conducted some unauthorized extra-sensory perception experiments while en route to the Moon, with friends back on Earth; the number of matches were reportedly less than would have been obtained by random chance.
Shepard's moonwalking suit was the first to incorporate red bands on the arms and legs, and a red stripe on the top of the lunar EVA sunshade "hood," as to allow easy identification of the commander while on the surface; on the Apollo 12 pictures, it had been almost impossible to distinguish between the two crewmen, causing a great deal of confusion. This feature was on Jim Lovell's Apollo 13 suit, but because of the accident, this was not used. It was used on the remaining three Apollo flights and is used on both the U.S. and Russian spacesuits on both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station.
Mitchell is the only surviving member of the crew; Roosa died in 1994 from pancreatitis and Shepard in 1998 from leukemia.
The mission was somewhat of a personal success for Shepard, who had battled back from Ménière’s disease, earned his flight status back and made his first mission in space in ten years.

The mission's command module Kitty Hawk is displayed at the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Titusville, Florida and the lunar module Antares impacted the Moon 7 February, 1971 at 3.42° S, 19.67° W.

Mission insignia

The oval insignia shows a gold astronaut pin, given to astronauts upon completing their first space flight, traveling from the earth to the moon. A gold band around the edge includes the mission and astronaut names. The designer was Jean Beaulieu.

The backup crew spoofed the patch with its own version, with revised artwork showing the Roadrunner Warner Brothers cartoon character on the moon, holding a U.S. flag and a flag labeled "1st Team," as a gray-bearded Wile E. Coyote flies in in place of the astronaut pin. The flight name is replaced by "BEEP BEEP" and the backup crew's names are given. Several were left as "gotchas" on the "Kitty Hawk."

Quotes

"It's been a long way, but we're here." Alan B. Shepard, Jr, his first words on the moon. Unlike Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Apollo 12's Pete Conrad, Shepard had already gotten off the ladder and was a few meters from the LM.

"I think you're all finks." Edgar B. Mitchell. (said in response to Cmdr. Shepard's suggestion to turn back during their second EVA, where they came within 65 feet (21 m) of the rim of the 1,000 foot (300 m) wide Cone Crater that they were looking for)

Media

External links

References

[NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
[APOLLO BY THE NUMBERS: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff (NASA)]
[The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology]
[Apollo Program Summary Report]
[Apollo 14 Characteristics - SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK]
Lattimer, Dick (1985). 'All We Did was Fly to the Moon. Whispering Eagle Press. ISBN 0961122803.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[Special]

Project Apollo
SA-1 \| SA-2 \| SA-3 \| SA-4 \| SA-5 \| A-101 \| A-102 \| A-103 \| A-104 \| A-105 Pad Abort Test-1 \| Pad Abort Test-2 \| QTV \| A-001 \| A-002 \| A-003 \| A-004 \| AS-201 \| AS-203 \| AS-202 Apollo 1 \| Apollo 4 \| Apollo 5 \| Apollo 6 \| Apollo 7 \| Apollo 8 \| Apollo 9 \| Apollo 10 \| Apollo 11 \| Apollo 12 \| Apollo 13 \| Apollo 14 \| Apollo 15 \| Apollo 16 \| Apollo 17

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.