Apollo 15

"Endeavor"
NSSDC ID: 71-063A

Description:
Apollo 15 was the fifth spacecraft (fourth accomplished) and the
first of the J-series Apollo missions designed to land humans on
the moon. The lunar landing site for the 12-day scientific mission
was the Hadley Rille-Apennine mountain region at 26 deg 06 min
54 sec N, 3 deg 39 min 30 sec E on the lunar surface. The lunar
module (LM) carrying astronauts David Scott and James Irwin
and the lunar roving vehicle (LRV) landed on the moon on July 31,
1971. The command service module (CSM) piloted by Alfred
Worden remained in a slightly elliptical orbit at an altitude of 93
by 120 km with an inclination of 23 deg. The projects carried out
on the surface included the deployment of the Apollo lunar surface
experiments package (ALSEP), geological field exploration in
three EVA excursions, documenting photography, and
acquisition of samples of the lunar terrain. Photographs
using 16- and 70-mm film were obtained from both the surface
and from orbit, and 35-mm and two kinds of 5-in. film photographs
were obtained from orbit. Special UV and dimlight photographic
experiments were performed during orbit. Before leaving the
lunar environment, a subsatellite (71-063D) with an experiments
package was released from the CSM on August 4, 1971, into
an orbit 135 by 97 km. The LRV was used to explore regions
within 5 km of the LM landing site. This was the first time a
vehicle of this type had been used, and its performance on the