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LANDING SITEHadley-Apennine
LAT26.1322°
LON3.6339°
MOON
Jul 30, 1971
LANDING DATE
1971
66 hours 55 minutes on surface
MISSION DURATION
TOTAL
-173 to 127 C
SURFACE TEMP
AT LANDING SITE
16,434
KG
MASS
8
INSTRUMENTS
SCIENTIFIC PAYLOAD
Apollo 15 Falcon is a lander mission by NASA on Moon. Landed July 30, 1971. Landing site: Hadley-Apennine.
ABOUT APOLLO 15 FALCON
Apollo 15 was the first extended scientific expedition to the Moon, featuring the debut of the Lunar Roving Vehicle. The Falcon landed near Hadley Rille, a meandering channel carved by ancient lava flows, at the base of the Apennine Mountains. Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin conducted three moonwalks, driving the LRV and collecting 77.31 kg of samples. Their most significant find was the Genesis Rock, a 4.1 billion-year-old piece of the Moon’s original anorthositic crust.
KEY DISCOVERIES
- Returned 77.31 kg of samples including Genesis Rock (anorthosite 4.1 Ga)
- Explored Hadley Rille lava channel
- LRV enabled exploration up to 5 km from landing site
- Demonstrated extended surface operations capability
TECHNOLOGY & FIRSTS
- First mission to use Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV)
- First J-class extended Apollo mission (3 EVAs)
- Longest Apollo surface stay at that time
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS (8)
ALSEP science station
Heat Flow Experiment
Lunar Surface Magnetometer
Solar Wind Spectrometer
Suprathermal Ion Detector
Cold Cathode Ion Gauge
Laser Ranging Retroreflector
Lunar Roving Vehicle
SPACECRAFT SPECIFICATIONS
Mass16,434 kg (36,237 lbs)
Dimensions4.2m tall, 9.4m wide (legs deployed)
PowerBattery
CommunicationsS-band steerable antenna, VHF
Design Life72 hours on surface
Landing DateJuly 30, 1971
Mission EndAugust 2, 1971
ProgramApollo
SURFACE DATA
Surface Temperature-173 to 127 C
LAUNCH HISTORY
OTHER MOON LANDERS