31 January: Apollo 14

On this date in 1971, Apollo 14 launched. 10 facts about this mission.

1. This was the eighth time humans flew in the Apollo program and the third time astronauts landed on the Moon. The astronauts landed on the Moon on 5 February.

2. The primary objectives of Apollo 14 were to explore the Fra Mauro region, which was what Apollo 13 was supposed to do, and to set up scientific experiments including a seismometer to measure "moonquakes" and study the Moon's interior and instruments to measure solar wind, the Moon's atmosphere and its magnetic field.

3. The Lunar Module was called Antares and the Command Module, Kitty Hawk.

4. Apollo 14’s crew were: Alan B. Shepard Jr., Commander; Edgar D. Mitchell, Lunar Module Pilot; and Stuart A. Roosa, Command Module Pilot. Shepherd had been the first American in space and was also the oldest person to walk on the Moon, at the age of 47.

5. Stuart Roosa took hundreds of tree seeds along. The seeds orbited the Moon with him in Kitty Hawk. Back on Earth, the seeds were planted in locations around the world and the resulting trees are known as “Moon Trees”.

6. The astronauts collected 93.2 pounds (42.3 kg) of Moon rocks and soil. One of the rocks they brought back was "Big Bertha" and was one of the largest Moon rocks brought back to Earth.

7. This mission was the first to use a Modularized Equipment Transporter (MET), nicknamed the “rickshaw”, which had wheels and resembled a wheelbarrow.

8. Another innovation was distinguishing marks on an astronaut’s space suit. It had been hard to tell which Apollo 12 astronaut was which in the hundreds of photographs taken on the Moon’s surface, so NASA decided that Shepard would wear a space suit with Red stripes at the knees and shoulders and a red stripe on the helmet. Had Apollo 13 reached the Moon, they would have used the same system.

9. In was on this mission that Golf was first played on the Moon, by Alan Shepherd. He hit two balls using a specially adapted club. The first golf ball travelled about 200 yards, the second about 400 yards.

10. Apollo 14 splashed down on 9 February after a mission which had lasted 9 Days, 0 Hours, 1 Minute and 57 Seconds.

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