Apollo 15
Apollo 11 had gotten humans (and the United States) to the Moon; Apollos 12 and 14 had proven it could be done more than once, and Apollo 13 had nearly ended in tragedy. With budget cuts now limiting NASA to only three more missions after Apollo 14, the last three missions--so-called "J missions"--would be longer stays on the Moon with more emphasis on scientific research. The problem was, most of the astronauts weren't scientists--at least not the kind the scientific community demanded. What was needed were geologists, and none of the Apollo astronauts were that.
Apollo 15's crew consisted of mission commander David Scott, command module (CM) pilot Alfred Worden, and lunar module (LM) pilot James Irwin. Originally, Apollo 13 was to have a lot of emphasis on geology as well, and that crew had trained extensively in the field. After Apollo 13's crew barely survived and never made it to the Moon, this task fell to Apollo 15, who were slated to land at the Hadley Rille. Scott was particularly enthusiastic about training, and the crew, partnered with geology teachers from Caltech, scoured Arizona and New Mexico. At first, they worked in shirt sleeves, but as the launch date approached, they began wearing more and more of the equipment they would carry to the Moon, short of actual spacesuits.
Scott, Worden and Irwin climbed aboard Apollo 15 on 26 July 1971; the CM was named Endeavour for HMS Endeavour (a later Space Shuttle would also bear the name), while the LM was named Falcon (as Scott and Worden were USAF, and it honored the US Air Force Academy's mascot). Launch and the journey to the Moon went without a hitch, and Scott and Worden rode down to the Moon on 30 July. Because of the need to carry more supplies and the Lunar Rover to the Moon, the LM carried a larger engine than previous missions, and it kicked up so much dust that Scott could not see the surface. When Irwin told him one of the landing probes had made contact, Irwin cut the engine--and the Falcon landed so hard it almost tipped the LM over.
Luckily, that proved to be the only glitch in the mission. Scott and Irwin performed dozens of experiments and became the first people to drive on the moon, moving around on the Lunar Rover, on its first mission. They recovered some of the earliest rocks known to man, giving valuable knowledge of the geology of both the Moon and Earth, as well as other experiments. After spending 19 hours on the Moon, Scott and Irwin returned to the Endeavour and Worden. Unknown to NASA at the time, the two astronauts had quietly left the "Fallen Astronaut" memorial behind: a small figure representing an astronaut, and a memorial plaque with the names of American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died, either on missions or in training, to that point.
The return home was also uneventful, though Worden made a spacewalk to retrieve film canisters from the service module--the first time it had been done outside of Earth orbit. After splashdown and recovery, however, a controversy arose: the crew had carried 400 stamps with them. While that was done with NASA's knowledge and blessing, the crew then handed over 100 of the stamps to a German stamp dealer, who sold them for $1500 apiece; originally, the crew was supposed to get $7000 in compensation, but they thought better of it and refused the money. Nonetheless, when NASA learned of it--astronauts were not supposed to make a profit off their flights--and of the Fallen Astronaut memorial, all three of the crew were banned from further spaceflight. It had been Scott's third flight (he had been on Gemini 8 and Apollo 9), but Irwin and Worden's only flight. Worden passed away in 2020, while Irwin died of a heart attack in 1991; Scott is still alive as of this writing.
After examination of the CM Endeavour, it, like most of the other Apollo capsules, was donated to the Smithsonian by NASA, which then loaned it to the USAF. It was placed on display at the National Museum of the USAF in 1973.
When I was a kid, I dimly remember seeing Apollo 15 when we visited the NMUSAF in 1977. When I returned 40 years later, I got this picture. Unlike the other Apollo capsules I've seen, Apollo 15 is open to the air.
Apollo 15
Apollo 11 had gotten humans (and the United States) to the Moon; Apollos 12 and 14 had proven it could be done more than once, and Apollo 13 had nearly ended in tragedy. With budget cuts now limiting NASA to only three more missions after Apollo 14, the last three missions--so-called "J missions"--would be longer stays on the Moon with more emphasis on scientific research. The problem was, most of the astronauts weren't scientists--at least not the kind the scientific community demanded. What was needed were geologists, and none of the Apollo astronauts were that.
Apollo 15's crew consisted of mission commander David Scott, command module (CM) pilot Alfred Worden, and lunar module (LM) pilot James Irwin. Originally, Apollo 13 was to have a lot of emphasis on geology as well, and that crew had trained extensively in the field. After Apollo 13's crew barely survived and never made it to the Moon, this task fell to Apollo 15, who were slated to land at the Hadley Rille. Scott was particularly enthusiastic about training, and the crew, partnered with geology teachers from Caltech, scoured Arizona and New Mexico. At first, they worked in shirt sleeves, but as the launch date approached, they began wearing more and more of the equipment they would carry to the Moon, short of actual spacesuits.
Scott, Worden and Irwin climbed aboard Apollo 15 on 26 July 1971; the CM was named Endeavour for HMS Endeavour (a later Space Shuttle would also bear the name), while the LM was named Falcon (as Scott and Worden were USAF, and it honored the US Air Force Academy's mascot). Launch and the journey to the Moon went without a hitch, and Scott and Worden rode down to the Moon on 30 July. Because of the need to carry more supplies and the Lunar Rover to the Moon, the LM carried a larger engine than previous missions, and it kicked up so much dust that Scott could not see the surface. When Irwin told him one of the landing probes had made contact, Irwin cut the engine--and the Falcon landed so hard it almost tipped the LM over.
Luckily, that proved to be the only glitch in the mission. Scott and Irwin performed dozens of experiments and became the first people to drive on the moon, moving around on the Lunar Rover, on its first mission. They recovered some of the earliest rocks known to man, giving valuable knowledge of the geology of both the Moon and Earth, as well as other experiments. After spending 19 hours on the Moon, Scott and Irwin returned to the Endeavour and Worden. Unknown to NASA at the time, the two astronauts had quietly left the "Fallen Astronaut" memorial behind: a small figure representing an astronaut, and a memorial plaque with the names of American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died, either on missions or in training, to that point.
The return home was also uneventful, though Worden made a spacewalk to retrieve film canisters from the service module--the first time it had been done outside of Earth orbit. After splashdown and recovery, however, a controversy arose: the crew had carried 400 stamps with them. While that was done with NASA's knowledge and blessing, the crew then handed over 100 of the stamps to a German stamp dealer, who sold them for $1500 apiece; originally, the crew was supposed to get $7000 in compensation, but they thought better of it and refused the money. Nonetheless, when NASA learned of it--astronauts were not supposed to make a profit off their flights--and of the Fallen Astronaut memorial, all three of the crew were banned from further spaceflight. It had been Scott's third flight (he had been on Gemini 8 and Apollo 9), but Irwin and Worden's only flight. Worden passed away in 2020, while Irwin died of a heart attack in 1991; Scott is still alive as of this writing.
After examination of the CM Endeavour, it, like most of the other Apollo capsules, was donated to the Smithsonian by NASA, which then loaned it to the USAF. It was placed on display at the National Museum of the USAF in 1973.
When I was a kid, I dimly remember seeing Apollo 15 when we visited the NMUSAF in 1977. When I returned 40 years later, I got this picture. Unlike the other Apollo capsules I've seen, Apollo 15 is open to the air.