| MISSION_DESCRIPTION |
Mission Overview
================
Apollo 16 was launched on 16 April 1972 UT 17:54:00 on a Saturn V
rocket from Kennedy Space Center. Lunar orbit insertion took place
on 19 April 1972 UT 20:22:28. The Lunar Module (LM) landed on the
Moon on 21 April 1972 UT 02:23:35, in the Descartes highland region
at 8.972 S, 15.498 E, just north of the Dolland crater, while the
Command/Service Module (CSM) remained in lunar orbit. The lunar
ascent module launched from the Moon on 24 April UT 01:25:48. The
command module was returned to Earth on 27 April 1972 UT 19:45:05.
The astronauts on Apollo 16 were commander John Young, command
module pilot Thomas Mattingly, and lunar module pilot Charles Duke.
Three excursions on the first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) lasted a
total of 20 hours and 14 minutes and traversed 27 km. The lunar
surface stay-time was 71 hours. During the stay, the Apollo Lunar
Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) was placed and activated, and
95.71 kg of rock and soil samples were collected. The duration of
the lunar orbit was 126 hours for a total of 64 orbits. The small
sub-satellite was spring-launched at 21:56:09 UT on April 24 into
an elliptical orbit with a lifetime of one month, rather than the
planned one-year orbit.
Surface Operations
==================
The LM separated from the CSM at 18:08:00 UT on 20 April 1972 and
landed at 02:23:35 UT on 21 April (9:23:35 p.m. EST, 20 April) in
the Descartes highland region just north of the crater Dolland at
8.9730 South latitude, 15.5002 East longitude (IAU Mean Earth Polar
Axis coordinate system). Young and Duke made three moonwalk
extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) totaling 20 hours, 14 minutes.
During this time they covered 27 km and collected 94.7 kg of rock
and soil samples, stopping at 11 sites. The LRV was used during
EVAs to extend the range of surface lunar exploration. The first
EVA was on 21 April from 16:47:38 UT to 23:58:40 UT, during which
the astronauts set up the ALSEP and other instruments, deployed the
LRV, and explored the area around the LM and surrounding craters in
a 4.2-km traverse, stopping at Flag Crater and Spook Crater.
During the second EVA on 22 April from 16:33:35 UT to 23:56:44 UT
the astronauts explored a ridge and mountain slope during a 11.1-km
traverse and visited the Cinco Crater area, halfway up the slope of
Stone Mountain, and the base of Stone Mountain. On the third EVA,
of 11.4 km, on 23 April from 15:25:28 UT to 21:05:31 UT they
travelled to the southeast rim of North Ray Crater, House Rock, and
the base of Smoky Mountain. During all these EVAs the astronauts
collected samples and took photographs and performed other tasks at
some sites. The LM lifted off from the Moon on 24 April at
01:25:48 UT after 71 hours, 2 minutes on the lunar surface.
Surface Experiments
===================
The Apollo 16 astronauts performed and deployed many experiments on
the lunar surface along with the geologic studies, sample return,
and surface photography:
- The Solar Wind Composition experiment collected samples of
solar wind on a large piece of foil which was returned to
Earth;
- The Cosmic-Ray Detector recorded heavy (high energy) cosmic
rays from solar, stellar, and galactic sources on detector
plates which were returned to Earth;
- The Portable Surface Magnetometer studied the strength local
magnetic sources in the traverse areas. It was run by an
astronaut with the results radioed back to Earth;
- The Soil Mechanics Investigations studied the physical
properties of the lunar regolith using observations recorded by
video and audio and a surface penetrometer which recorded data
on a drum which was returned to Earth;
- The Far-Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrometer recorded ultraviolet
astronomical observations which were returned to Earth ion film.
Other experiments were part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments
Package (ALSEP) which was emplaced at the landing site by the
astronauts. The instruments, connected by cables to a central
station which controlled power and communications, ran
autonomously. Data collected was converted to a telemetry format
and transmitted to Earth. Many of these experiments returned data
until September 1977, when the ALSEP network was turned off due to
budgetary constraints.
The Apollo 16 ALSEP instruments consisted of:
- A Passive Seismometer, designed to measure seismic activity and
physical properties of the lunar crust and interior;
- An Active Seismic Experiment to study the physical properties
of lunar surface and subsurface materials and the structure of
the local near-surface layers;
- A Lunar Surface Magnetometer (LSM), designed to measure the
magnetic field at the lunar surface;
- A Heat Flow Experiment, designed to measure the rate of heat
loss from the lunar interior and the thermal properties of
lunar material;
The central station, located at 8.9754 S latitude, 15.4981 E
longitude, was turned on at 19:38 UT on 21 April 1972 and shut
down along with the other ALSEP stations on 30 September 1977.
Orbital Science Experiments
===========================
Investigations were also carried out from lunar orbit in the Apollo
16 Command and Service Module. Hand-held photography was performed
from the command module, and a suite of instruments operated from
the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) in the Service Module,
comprising:
- Metric and Panoramic cameras to take photographs of the lunar
surface from orbit;
- A Laser Altimeter using reflected laser pulses to profile the
topography of lunar surface;
- A Gamma-ray Spectrometer Experiment to measure gamma ray
emissions from the lunar surface to determine composition;
- An X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer Experiment to measure
secondary X-ray emissions from the lunar surface to determine
composition;
- An Alpha Particle Spectrometer Experiment to measure radon gas
emissions from the lunar surface;
- An S-Band Transponder Experiment designed to carefully track
the CSM orbit and measure the lunar gravity field;
- An Orbital Mass Spectrometer Experiment to study the tenuous
lunar atmosphere and search for active lunar volcanism;
- A Bistatic Radar Experiment used measurements of S-Band and VHF
reflections to probe electromagnetic and structural properties
of the lunar surface;
- A Subsatellite released from the CSM into lunar orbit with
instruments to measure the Moon's gravity field, magnetic
field, and distribution of charged particles.
Additional experiments were also performed in lunar orbit and
during the cruise between Earth and the Moon:
- The Ultraviolet Photography Experiment took images of Earth
and the Moon in UV;
- The Gegenschein Photography Experiment took images of the
reflections from dust particles at the Moulton point;
- The Window Meteoroid experiment studied micrometeoroid impacts
on the Apollo 16 Command Module heat shield windows to obtain
information about the mass flux of micro-meteorites;
- The Skylab-Apollo Contamination Experiment took images of
scattered visible light produced by any residual cloud around
the spacecraft and studied particle dynamics during liquid
dumps;
- The Biostack experiment studied the biological effects of
galactic cosmic radiation;
- The Microbial Ecology Evaluation Device studied the response of
microbes to the space environment;
- The Light Flashes Experiment studied the subjective
observations of faint light flashes seen by nearly all Apollo
astronauts while in space.
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