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Apollo 16The Apollo 16 mission was launched on April 16, 1972, at 12:54:00 p.m. EST
from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
It was the fifth mission in which humans walked on the
lunar surface and returned to Earth. On April 21 astronauts John W. Young (Commander) and
Charles M. Duke, Jr. (LM Pilot) landed in the Descartes region of the Moon in the
Lunar Module (LM) while the Command and Service Module (CSM) (with CM Pilot
Thomas K. Mattingly, II) continued in lunar orbit.
During their stay on the Moon, the astronauts set up scientific experiments, took photographs, and collected
lunar samples. Young and Duke made three moonwalk EVAs totaling 20 hours, 14 minutes. During this time
they covered 27 km using the Lunar Roving Vehicle, collected 94.7 kg of rock and soil samples, took
photographs, and set up the ALSEP and other scientific experiments. Other experiments were also performed
from orbit in the CSM during this time.
The LM lifted off from the Moon on April 24 after 71 hours, 2 minutes on the lunar surface.
Apollo 16 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 27, 1972 at 2:45:05 p.m. EST after a mission elapsed
timeof 265 hrs, 51 mins, 5 secs.
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