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Apollo 15: Driving on the Mo
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Apollo 15: Driving on the Moon |
| Explanation |
Apollo 15 [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a15.summary.html ] astronaut James Irwin [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a15.crew.html#irwinbio ] works on the first Lunar Roving Vehicle [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/AS15/LRV.html ], before he and fellow astronaut David Scott [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a15.crew.html#scottbio ] take it out for a drive. Sloping up behind the lunar module [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/LMordered.html ]"Falcon" on the left are lunar mountains Hadley Delta [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960222.html ] and Apennine Front, while about 5 kilometers behind Irwin is St. George Crater. The explorations conducted during the Apollo lunar missions discovered much about our Moon [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/LunarTop10.html ], including that the Moon is made of ancient rock, that the Moon's composition is similar to Earth's, that life is not evident there, that the Moon underwent a great hot melting in its distant past, that the Moon has suffered from numerous impacts as shown by its craters, and that the Moon's surface is covered by a layer of rock fragments and dust. |
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An Apollo 15 Panorama
| Title |
An Apollo 15 Panorama |
| Explanation |
The Apollo 15 mission [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS15/a15.htm ] to Earth's Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ] was dedicated to better understanding the surface of the moon by exploring mountains, valleys, maria, and highlands [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/moon/moon_surface.html ]. Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo15/A15_Overview_crew.html ] spent nearly three days on the Moon while Alfred Worden [ http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/worden.htm ] orbited above in the Command Module [ http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/apollo/ ]. The mission [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15j.html ], which blasted off from Earth on 1971 July 26, was the first to deploy a Lunar Roving Vehicle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990701.html ]. Pictured above [ http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/panoramas/ ] in this digitally stitched mosaic panorama [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.summary.html ], David Scott examines a boulder in front of the summit of Mt. Hadley Delta [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980705.html ]. The shadow of James Irwin is visible to the right, while scrolling to the right will reveal a well-lit and diverse lunar [ http://www.myspacemuseum.com/stats2.htm ] terrain. The Apollo 15 mission [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo15/Apollo15.html ] returned about 76 kilograms of moon rocks for detailed study. Want to pan across the surface of Mars, too? Check out the color panoramic view [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/jan-12-2004/ captions/image-1.html ] from the Spirit landing site. |
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