Richard F. Gordon Jr. · Vance D. Brand · Harrison Schmitt
Operations
Journey to the Moon · Solo operations · On the lunar surface · Return to Earth
Other articles
Genesis Rock · Great Scott (lunar sample) · Seatbelt basalt · Fallen Astronaut · Postal covers incident
v
t
e
Apollo 15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than earlier landings. Apollo 15 saw the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.
The mission began on July 26 and ended on August 7, with the lunar surface exploration taking place between July 30 and August 2. Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille and explored the local area using the rover, allowing them to travel further from the lunar module than had been possible on previous missions. They spent 181⁄2 hours on the Moon's surface on four extravehicular activities (EVA), and collected 170 pounds (77 kg) of surface material.
At the same time, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden orbited the Moon, operating the sensors in the scientific instrument module (SIM) bay of the service module. This suite of instruments collected data on the Moon and its environment using a panoramic camera, a gamma-ray spectrometer, a mapping camera, a laser altimeter, a mass spectrometer, and a lunar subsatellite deployed at the end of the moonwalks. The lunar module returned safely to the command module and, at the end of Apollo 15's 74th lunar orbit,[18] the engine was fired for the journey home. During the return trip, Worden performed the first spacewalk in deep space. The Apollo 15 mission splashed down safely on August7 despite the loss of one of its three parachutes.
The mission accomplished its goals but was marred by negative publicity the following year when it emerged that the crew had carried unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface, some of which were sold by a West German stamp dealer. The members of the crew were reprimanded for poor judgment, and did not fly in space again. The mission also saw the collection of the Genesis Rock, thought to be part of the Moon's early crust, and Scott's use of a hammer and a feather to validate Galileo's theory that when there is no air resistance, objects fall at the same rate due to gravity regardless of their mass.
^Orloff, Richard W. (2004) [2000]. "Table of Contents". Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference. NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA. ISBN 978-0-16-050631-4. Archived from the original on August 23, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
^ abcdeCite error: The named reference Apollo 15 CSM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abc"Apollo 15 Lunar Module /ALSEP". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
^ abcdefMission Report, p. 3.
^"Apollo 15 Command Module". Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. March 17, 2016. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
^"Lunar Module LM-2". Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. March 21, 2016. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
^Mission Report, p. 263.
^ abcdefghijklOrloff, Richard W. (2005) [2000]. "Apollo 15 timeline". Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference. NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA. ISBN 978-0-16-050631-4. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
^Mission Report, p. 1.
^Orloff & Harland, p. 426.
^ abcdeMission Report, pp. 10–11.
^ abOrloff, Richard W. (2005) [2000]. "Apollo 15 The Ninth Mission: The Fourth Lunar Landing 26 July–7 August 1971". Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference. NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA. ISBN 978-0-16-050631-4. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
^"NASA NSSDC Master Catalog – Apollo 15 LM descent stage". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
^Mission Report, p. 15.
^Mission Report, pp. 15–16.
^Mission Report, p. 16.
^Cite error: The named reference presskit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Apollo15 (July 26 – August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first...
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration...
The Apollo15 postal covers incident, a 1972 NASA scandal, involved the astronauts of Apollo15, who carried about 400 unauthorized postal covers into...
The Apollo Lunar Module (LM /ˈlɛm/), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar...
Apollo15 lunar surface operations were conducted from July 30 to August 2, 1971, by Apollo15 Commander David Scott and Apollo Lunar Module Pilot James...
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the eleventh and final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the...
five Apollo missions to land on the Moon following Apollo 11 (Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17). Apollo 11 left a smaller package called the Early Apollo Scientific...
the Apollo crewed Moon landing program of the 1960s and 1970s were canceled, for reasons which included changes in technical direction, the Apollo 1 fire...
The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which...
or other symbols. Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized...
During the 1971 Apollo15 mission to the Moon, and its three days of exploration on the lunar surface by David Scott and James Irwin, Command Module Pilot...
Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA, possibly...
After the Apollo15 LM Falcon lifted from the lunar surface on August 2, 1971, it rendezvoused and docked with the CSM Endeavour. After transferring across...
Apollo 16 (April 16–27, 1972) was the tenth crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate...
Launched at 9:34:00 am EST on July 26, 1971, Apollo15 took four days to reach the Moon. After spending two hours in orbit around the Earth, the S-IVB...
Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was planned to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man...
As part of the Apollo program by NASA, 24 astronauts flew nine missions to the Moon between December 1968 and December 1972. During six successful two-man...
The Apollo program was a United States human spaceflight program carried out from 1961 to 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)...
carried out on board Apollo missions. Two experiments were successfully deployed as part of Apollo15 and Apollo 17. The instrument on Apollo 16 was deployed...
Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on...
Apollo 14 (January 31 – February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first...
irreparably damaged during the live broadcast of the Apollo 12 mission's first moonwalk. Starting with the Apollo15 mission, a more robust, damage-resistant camera...
Apollo 13 (April 11–17, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched...
watch on the Moon'. In 1971, a Bulova chronograph was carried on board Apollo15, the fourth mission to land men on the Moon, by mission commander David...
The Apollo Applications Program (AAP) was created as early as 1966 by NASA headquarters to develop science-based human spaceflight missions using hardware...