Apollo 14 was the third mission to land astronauts on the Moon and the first flight to go ahead after the near-disaster of Apollo 13 the previous year. Commander Alan Shepard, who had been the first American in space, landed with Edgar Mitchell in the Fra Mauro highlands, the site Apollo 13 had been meant to reach, while Stuart Roosa orbited above in the command module. The two moonwalkers set up scientific instruments, collected rock samples and pulled a small hand cart to carry their tools. Shepard also hit two golf balls with an improvised club, an episode that became one of the best-known images of the programme. The mission returned several dozen kilograms of lunar material that helped scientists study the Moon's early history.
Before and after
- 1971Establishment of Kevladev National Park
- from 1971 to 2001Rise of Japanese Red Army
- 1971Microprocessor
- 1971Email
- 31 January 1971Launch of Apollo 14
- 2 February 1971Ramsar Convention
- 4 February 1971Founding of Nasdaq
- from 26 March 1971 to 16 December 1971Bangladesh genocide
- from 26 March 1971 to 16 December 1971Bangladesh Liberation War
More in Universe & space
- 1 May 1949Discovery of Nereid
- 20 August 1977Launch of Voyager 2
- 16 June 1989Discovery of Proteus
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Nix
- 10 September 2005Discovery of Dysnomia
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.