Apolo 16 has landed on the month of this month: New chapters in Lunar Research – Life

Apollo 16 is on this day in 1972. years landed to the moon.

Two Astronauts – John Young (Charles M. Duke Jr.) – Time became the tenth and eleventh man who walked after the month, and this mission remained remembered as a key rude in understanding Lunar Geology.

Apolo 16 was the fifth mission with a human crew, which landed on the moon within the American Apollo program, but also one of the most ambitious – both per duration on the surface of the Moon and by scientific goals.

Crew and the beginning of the mission

The Apolo 16 mission was launched in April 16, 1972. year with Kennedy Cosmodry in Florida. The three-member crew accounted for John Yang, the Lunar Module Charles Djuk and the Ken Matingli Command Module Pilot (Thomas K. « Ken » Matting II).

Yang had already had a great experience behind him, Gemini 10 and Apollo 10. Dew, Early Capcom (Matting Mission, on the other side, was known to Apol 13, for suspicion of exposure to the smallpox virus.

Landing 20. April – Getting Started in Descartes

In the afternoon of 20. April at our time, the lunar module called « Orion » landed on the high-speed Descartes. The previous apol missions were directed on the lunar sea – flat, dark areas formed by the cooled lava – while the aim of Apolla 16 was to explore geologically more complex, elevated terrain.

Visaravan Descartes itself is selected as a potential place where there were volcanic activities, and scientists believed that samples in this area would provide answers to the early stages of the month formation.

Scientific research and technology in motion

During three days of stay on the month, Yang and Djuk performed three « walks » on the surface, a total spending more than 20 hours outside the module. With the help of a lunar rover – a small electric vehicle designed special for the month – they crossed more than 26 kilometers, collected 95.8 kilograms of lunar soil and rock and set up a series of scientific instruments.

Samples from North Ray and South Ray, which allowed a better insight into the nature of meteorite strikes, as well as seismic instruments and telescope that remained on the surface. The telescope from Apolla 16 was the first telescope used outside the country, and helped observe UV radiation from the moon – which is not possible from the earth due to the atmosphere.

Back to Earth

After successful research, 24. April Jang and Djuk returned to the Lunar Module, and then connected to the « Kasper » command module (Casper) in which Matingi waited for them. Together they returned to Earth 27. April, landing in the Pacific Ocean.

The Apolo 16 mission did not only confirm the technical possibilities of NASA, but also scientifically contributed to the understanding of the month as a geological body. The plateau like Descartes was found, no result, as previously thought, but that they were formed by huge meteorite in the early history of the month.