Universe & space

Launch of Apollo 15

26 July 1971

Apollo 15 was the fourth mission to land astronauts on the Moon and the first of the longer J-missions, with more science and a longer stay on the surface. David Scott and James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille, at the foot of the Apennine mountains, while Alfred Worden orbited above in the command module. They were the first to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle, an electric car that allowed them to travel several kilometres from the lunar module and bring back a much larger range of samples, including a rock nicknamed the Genesis Rock. On camera Scott demonstrated that a hammer and a feather fall at the same rate in a vacuum. The mission was later clouded by a scandal over unauthorised postal covers that the crew carried.

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