Picture of Apollo 16 launch
NASA
Apollo 16
Apollo 16 was launched on April 16, 1972 and took astronauts John Young, Thomas Mattingly, and Charles Duke to the Moon. Their mission was to visit the lunar highlands, a previously unexplored region believed to contain evidence of ancient volcanic activity.
Young and Duke landed in the Descartes Highlands and visited several nearby craters in three EVA's during their stay on the Moon. They also set up a nuclear-powered science experiments station and collected soil and rock samples with the Lunar Roving Vehicle, first used in the Apollo 15 mission.
Although Apollo 16 brought over 200 pounds of material back to Earth, none of it confirmed scientists' theories about the Moon's geologic history.
You might also be interested in:
Apollo 15 marked the start of a new series of missions from the Apollo space program, each capable of exploring more lunar terrain than ever before. Launched on July 26, 1971, Apollo 15 reached the Moon
...more
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was one of the most important exploration tools of the past two decades, and will continue to serve as a great resource well into the new millennium. The HST is credited
...more
Driven by a recent surge in space research, the Apollo program hoped to add to the accomplishments of the Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor missions of the late 1960's. Apollo 11 was the first mission to succeed
...more
Apollo 12 survived a lightning strike during its launch on Nov. 14, 1969, and arrived at the Moon three days later. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean descended to the surface, while Richard Gordon
...more
NASA chose Deep Impact to be part of a special series called the Discovery Program on July 7, 1999. In May 2001, Deep Impact was given the "go" from NASA to start with mission development. Deep Impact
...more
The Galileo spacecraft was launched on October 19, 1989. Galileo had two parts: an orbiter and a descent probe that parachuted into Jupiter's atmosphere. Galileo's primary mission was to explore the Jovian
...more
During 1966 through 1967, five identical Lunar Orbiter spacecrafts were launched, with the purpose of mapping the Moon's surface and finding smooth, level terrain, in preparation for the Apollo and Surveyor
...more
