THIRD MOON LANDING ON THIS DAY IN 1971

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apollo-14 crew main

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program , the third to land on
the Moon. It was the last of the "H missions", targeted landings with two-day stays on
the Moon with two lunar EVA’s, or moonwalks. The crew for the nine-day mission included , from left to right, Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell, Commander Alan
Shepard, and Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell made their lunar landing on February  5 in an area originally targeted for the aborted Apollo 13 mission. During the two lunar EVS’s, 93 pounds of Moon rocks were collected and several surface  experiments were conducted. Commander Shepard hit two golf
balls while on the lunar surface with a make-shift club he brought from Earth.

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       Commander Alan Shepard hitting a golf ball on the lunar surface

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                          Autographed golf ball used by Shepard

posted by Bob Karm in ANNIVERSARY,HISTORY,Science,SPACE and have No Comments

FATAL APOLLO 1 FIRE ON THIS DATE IN 1967

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apollo-1

Apollo 1 (official designation Apollo/Saturn-204) was planned to be the first manned mission of the Apollo lunar landing program, set to launch in February 1967. Its flight was precluded by a fatal fire which killed all three crew members (Command Pilot Virgil “Guss” Grissom (center), Senior Pilot Edward H. White (left), and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee (right), and destroyed the Command Module cabin(pictured below). This occurred during a pre-launch test of the spacecraft on Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral. The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was officially assigned retroactively in commemoration of them.  

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                              Charred remains of the Apollo 1 command module

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posted by Bob Karm in ANNIVERSARY,DEATH,HISTORY,Science,SPACE and have No Comments