Apollo 15
| Mission Insignia
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| Mission Statistics
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| Mission Name: | Apollo 15
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| Call Sign: | Command module:
Endeavour
Lunar module:
Falcon
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Number of
Crew: | 3
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| Launch: | July 26, 1971
13:34:00 UTC
Kennedy Space Center
LC 39A
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| Lunar Landing: | July 30, 1971
22:16:29 UTC
26° 7' 55.99" N - 3° 38' 1.90" E
Hadley Rille
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Lunar EVA
length: | LM Stand Up: 33 min 7 s
1st: 6 h 32 min 42 s
2nd: 7 h 12 min 14 s
3rd: 4 h 49 min 50 s
Total: 18 h 34 min 46 s
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| CMP EVA: | 39 min 7 s
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Lunar Surface
Time: | 66 h 54 min 53.9 s
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Lunar Sample
Mass: | 77.31 kg
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| Splashdown: | August 7, 1971
20:45:53 UTC
26° 7' N - 158° 8' W
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| Duration: | 12 d 7 h 11 min 53 s
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Number of
Lunar Orbits: | 74
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Time in
Lunar Orbit: | 145 h 12 min 41.68 s
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| Mass: | CSM 30,370 kg;
LM 16,430 kg
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| Crew Picture
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 Apollo 15 crew portrait (L-R: Scott, Worden and Irwin) |
| Apollo 15 Crew
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Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon.
Crew
Backup Crew
Support Crew
Mission Parameters
- Mass:
- Launch mass: 2,921,005 kg
- Total spacecraft: 46,782 kg
- CSM mass: 30,354 kg, of which CM was 5840 kg, SM 24,514 kg
- LM mass: 16,428 kg, of which ascent stage was 4971 kg, descent stage 11,457 kg
- Earth orbits: 3 before leaving for Moon, about one on return
- Lunar orbits: 74
LM - CSM Docking
Moon walk
- Scott - Stand up EVA - LM upper hatch
- Start Stand Up EVA: July 31, 1971, 00:16:49 UTC
- End Stand Up EVA: July 31, 00:49:56 UTC
- Duration: 33 minutes, 07 seconds
- Scott and Irwin - EVA 1
- EVA 1 Start: July 31, 1971, 13:12:17 UTC
- EVA 1 End: July 31, 19:45:59 UTC
- Duration: 6 hours, 32 minutes, 42 seconds
- Scott and Irwin - EVA 2
- EVA 2 Start: August 1, 1971, 11:48:48 UTC
- EVA 2 End: August 1, 19:01:02 UTC
- Duration: 7 hours, 12 minutes, 14 seconds
- Scott and Irwin - EVA 3
- EVA 3 Start: August 2, 1971, 08:52:14 UTC
- EVA 3 End: August 2, 13:42:04 UTC
- Duration: 4 hours, 49 minutes, 50 seconds
- Worden - Transearth EVA 4
- EVA 4 Start: August 5, 1971, 15:31:12 UTC
- EVA 4 End: August 5, 16:10:19 UTC
- Duration: 39 minutes, 07 seconds
The splashdown point was estimated to be 26°13′ N, 158°13′ W, 330 statute miles (530 km) north of Honolulu, Hawaii and 9.8 km (5.3 n mi) from the recovery ship USS Okinawa.
Mission highlights
The first of the longer J-class expedition-style lunar landing missions was also the first to include the lunar rover, a car-like vehicle that extended the astronauts' range. The lunar module Falcon touched down near the sinuous channel known as Hadley Rille. Scott and Irwin rode more than 17 miles (27 kilometers) in their rover, and had a free hand in their geological field studies compared to earlier lunar astronauts. They brought back one of the prize trophies of the Apollo program—a sample of ancient lunar crust nicknamed the "Genesis Rock", and returned with total 76.8 kg of lunar samples.
David Scott performed an informal experiment, simultaneously dropping a falcon feather and a hammer. Both hit the ground at the same time, verifying that (within the accuracy of the crude setup) bodies fall at the same rate regardless of mass.
Apollo 15 also launched a small subsatellite for measuring particles and fields in the lunar vicinity. On the way back to Earth, Worden, who had flown solo on board Endeavor while his crewmates walked on the surface, conducted the first space-walk between Earth and the Moon to retrieve film from the side of the spacecraft.
Relics
The command module is displayed at the United States Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio and the lunar module impacted the Moon on 3 August, 1971 at 26.36° N, 0.25° E.
See also
Trivia
All three crew members were alumni of the University of Michigan [1]. On board the spacecraft they carried a miniature of the University of Michigan flag, a miniature of the University of Michigan Dept. of Aerospace Engineering seal, and a charter of the University of Michigan Alumni Club of the Moon, which was left on the moon.
Reference
External links
