Apollo 16 Landing Site

The Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion set down on the surface 21 April 1972. Here, John Young and Charlie Duke undertook the first and only exploration of a purely highlands site. Their main goal was to sample the enigmatic light plains deposits that geologists had interpreted as remnants of a large scale explosive eruption. However, the enigmatic light plains turned out to be a massive ejecta flow from the ancient Imbrium basin formation event. Young and Duke were sampling crushed rocks that flowed hundreds of kilometers from their source! With the help of the lunar rover, they traveled over 26 km during three extra-vehicular activities, staying out on the surface for over 20 hours.

Latitude: -8.9734°
Longitude: 15.501°
Camera: NAC
Image Width: 2.25 km
Image(s): M175179080LR
Download Image

Back to Exhibit