Apollo 14, piloted by astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D.
Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa,was successfully launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a manned mission to the moon.

Shepard and Mitchell remained on the lunar surface for nearly
34 hours, conducting simple scientific experiments, such as
hitting golf balls into space with Shepard’s golf club, and
collecting 96 pounds of lunar samples. On February 9, Apollo
14 safely returned to Earth.

The crew of Apollo 14 in their spacesuits: Edgar D. Mitchel,
Alan B. Shepard and Stuart A. Roosa.

SANDY KOZEL

Before and after shuttle explosion (first visible signs of
danger on left, just after explosion on right).

At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle
Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and
Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first
ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space.

McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher
from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her
a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger.

She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning
January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger‘s
launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather
and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted
off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground,
including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the
shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire.

The Final Crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

President Ronald Reagan addressing the nation from the
White House on the day of the space shuttle Challenger explosion.

Recent photos taken by India’s Space Research Organization moon orbiter, known as Chandrayaan 2, clearly show the
Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 landing sites more than 50 years
later. (India Space Research Organization)

The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter (above) was equipped with
eight instruments to study the moon, including a lunar
terrain mapping camera and a sensor to study the
moon’s thin exosphere.

On Christmas morning, Apollo 8 left its lunar orbit and began
its journey back to Earth, landing safely in the Pacific Ocean
on on this day in 1968 after an historic six-day journey.

On December 21, Apollo 8 was launched by a three-stage
Saturn 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, astronauts
Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders were
aboard.     
   

On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around
the moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.      

Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the
moon,was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with
astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard F. Gordon, Jr.;
and Alan L. Bean aboard. 

President Richard Nixon (below center) viewed the liftoff
from Pad A at Cape Canaveral. He was the first president
to attend the liftoff of a manned space flight. 

Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr.; Command
Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon, Jr.; Lunar Module
Pilot Alan L. Bean.