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Apollo 16 Astronauts Inspect
…
| Title |
Apollo 16 Astronauts Inspect Lunar Rover |
| Full Description |
Apollo 16 Commander, John Young, center, and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke, foreground, inspect the Lunar Roving Vehicle they will use for transportation on the Moon during a Deployment Test in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at the Kennedy Space Center. The Rover is stored in the Ascent Stage of the Lunar Module for the trip to the Lunar surface. This inspection came during a review of Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments at the Spaceport. Launch is set for March 17. |
| Date |
11/12/1971 |
| NASA Center |
Kennedy Space Center |
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Astronaut Charles Duke with
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| Title |
Astronaut Charles Duke with Lunar Rover on Moon |
| Full Description |
Astronaut Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilot during the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, worked at the Lunar Roving Vehicle in center background. The lunar surface around Duke was scattered with small rocks and boulders. Other Apollo 16 astronauts were John W. Young, commander, and Thomas K. Mattingly II, command module pilot, who remained with the Command and Service Module in lunar orbit. |
| Date |
05/02/1972 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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The First Lunar Observatory
| Title |
The First Lunar Observatory |
| Explanation |
The first, and so far only, lunar astronomical observatory [ http://snoopy.gsfc.nasa.gov/~lunartel/lunar1.html ] was deployed by the Apollo 16 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960607.html ] crew in 1972. The Far Ultraviolet Camera / Spectrograph [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1972-031C-10.html ] used a 3-inch diameter Schmidt telescope to photograph the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000701.html ], nebulae [ http://nineplanets.org/twn/ ], star clusters [ http://www.allthesky.com/clusters/clusters.html ], and the Large Magellanic Cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000222.html ]. The tripod mounted astronomical equipment is seen above [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS16/10075848.htm ], placed in the shadow of the Lunar Module [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/attm/nojs/ a11.am.lm.1.html ] (right) so it would not overheat. Also in the shadow is astronaut Charles Duke with the lunar rover [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990701.html ] in the background. The Far Ultraviolet Camera [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/Apollo16/ A16_Experiments_UVC.html ] took pictures in ultraviolet light which would normally be blocked by the Earth's atmosphere. It was created by George Carruthers (NRL [ http://nrl.navy.mil/ ]), had a field of view of twenty degrees, and could detect stars having visual magnitude [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/MAG.HTML ] brighter than eleven. One hundred seventy-eight images were recorded in a film cartridge which the astronauts returned to Earth. The observatory still stands on the Moon [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/expmoon/lunar_missions.html ] today. |
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
…
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Former astronaut Charles Duke receives a warm welcome as he is introduced as a previous inductee into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. He and other Hall of Fame members were present for the induction of five new space program heroes into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame: Richard O. Covey, commander of the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, Norman E. Thagard, the first American to occupy Russia?s Mir space station, the late Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, commander of the ill-fated 1986 Challenger mission, Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, and Frederick D. Gregory, the first African-American to command a space mission and the current NASA deputy administrator. Duke explored the rugged highlands of the Moon?s Descartes region with John Young during the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972. The induction ceremony was held at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at KSC. The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in 1990 to provide a place where space travelers could be remembered for their participation and accomplishments in the U.S. space program. The five inductees join 52 previously honored astronauts from the ranks of the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and Space Shuttle programs. |
| Release Date |
05/01/2004 |
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Astronaut Charles Duke stand
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| Title |
Astronaut Charles Duke stands at rock adjacent to "House Rock |
| Description |
Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., Apollo 16 lunar module pilot, stands at a rock adjacent (south) to the huge "House Rock" (barely out of view at right edge). Note shadow at extreme right center where the two moon-exploring crewmen of the mission sampled what they referred to as the "eastwest split of House Rock" or the open space between this rock and "House Rock". Duke has a sample bag in his hand, and a lunar surface rake leans against the large boulder. |
| Date Taken |
1972-02-23 |
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