Apollo 16

Apollo 16 was the tenth crewed space flight in NASA's Apollo program. It was the 5th of six Apollo missions to land on the Moon. It was a J-Type mission, which meant that the astronauts would have a longer stay on the Moon. Launched on April 16, 1972, Ken Mattingly stayed in orbit around the Moon in the Apollo Command Module, Casper. He spent 3 days, 9 hours and 28 minutes by himself, the longest solo US space flight.[1]: 77  On the Moon, astronauts John Young and Charles Duke got to put the Lunar Roving Vehicle ("moon buggy") through a series of tests, including s-turns, hairpin turns and quick stops.[2] John Young was the commander of the mission.

Apollo 16
Mission typeCrewed lunar landing
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1972-031A
SATCAT no.06000Edit this on Wikidata
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft
Manufacturer
  • CSM: North American Rockwell
  • LM: Grumman
Crew
Crew size3
Members
Orbital parameters
Reference systemSelenocentric
 

A satellite was launched on the return journey to examine the Moon's mass and gravitation, space particles near the Moon, and the interaction of magnetic fields between the Moon and Earth.[2] The mission was stopped one day early as there were several problems with the spacecraft.[3]

References
  1. Furniss, Tim (2001). The History of Space Vehicles. London: Grange Books. ISBN 1-84013-370-8.
  2. "NASA - Apollo 16". nasa.gov. 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  3. "Astronaut Bio: Thomas K. Mattingly II". jsc.nasa.gov. 2010 [last update]. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
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