Apollo 15

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Apollo 15 was the first of the ambitious 'J-class' missions — longer stays, deeper science, and the first Lunar Roving Vehicle. Launched on 26 July 1971, David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin targeted the spectacular Hadley-Apennine region, where a towering mountain front meets a winding lava channel called Hadley Rille. Scott and Irwin became the first astronauts to drive on the Moon, ranging kilometres from the lander in their electric rover across three days of exploration and covering far more ground than any crew before them. Their most famous find was the 'Genesis Rock', an ancient fragment of the Moon's original crust. As a closing demonstration broadcast to the world, Scott dropped a geologist's hammer and a falcon feather together — with no air to slow the feather, both struck the lunar dust at the same instant, proving Galileo right for a global audience. Overhead, Worden ran a powerful suite of orbital instruments, and on the way home he made the first deep-space spacewalk to retrieve film canisters. Apollo 15 turned the Moon missions into true scientific expeditions.

1. 1971The first J-mission launchesLaunch

   Scott, Worden and Irwin set out for Hadley-Apennine with the first Lunar Roving Vehicle.

2. 1971First drive on the MoonDeployment

   Scott and Irwin unfold the electric rover and range kilometres across the Hadley plain.

3. 1971The Genesis RockMilestone

   The crew collect an ancient fragment of the Moon's original crust.

4. 1971The hammer and the featherMilestone

   Scott drops a hammer and a falcon feather together; with no air to slow it, the feather falls as fast as the hammer.

5. 1971SplashdownMission end

   On the way home Worden makes the first deep-space spacewalk to retrieve film from the Service Module.

Images

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