Alan B. Shepard conducting geological investigation at the Fra Mauro Highlands, 6 February 1971. Mission time 139:16:44. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA) AS14-68-9405
6 February 1971: During the second EVA of Apollo 14’s mission to The Moon, Mission Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Dean Mitchell conduct a geological exploration of the area near the Antares Lunar Module landing site.
Captain Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN, during geology training for the upcoming Apollo 14 mission, Arizona, 1970. (NASA)Apollo 14 traverse map (United States Geological Survey)
FAI Record File Num #10301 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: Astronau (Space records)
Sub-Class: K_Absolute (Absolute record for Astronautics)
Category: General
Group: Not applicable
Type of record: Extravehicular duration in space
Performance: 9 hr 12 min 27 sec
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Stuart A. ROOSA, Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14
FAI Record File Num #10304 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-3 (Missions to celestial bodies)
Category: Spacecraft with more than one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Extravehicular duration on the surface of the celestial body by an astronaut
Performance: 9 hr 12 min 27 sec
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Stuart A. ROOSA, Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14
FAI Record File Num #10308 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-3 (Missions to celestial bodies)
Category: Spacecraft with more than one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Distance covered on foot on the surface of the celestial body
Performance: 1 454 meters
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14
FAI Record File Num #10309 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-3 (Missions to celestial bodies)
Category: Spacecraft with more than one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Total extravehicular duration on the surface of the celestial body by all crew members
Performance: 17h 33mn 29 sec
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14
Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, photographed this sweeping view showing fellow Moon-explorer astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander, and the Apollo 14 Lunar Module (LM). A small cluster of rocks and a few prints made by the lunar overshoes of Mitchell are in the foreground. Mitchell was standing in the boulder field, located just north by northwest of the LM, when he took this picture during the second Apollo 14 extravehicular activity (EVA-2), on February 6, 1971. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA) AS14-68-9487?
The Apollo 14 Lunar Module Antares (LM-8) on the surface of The Moon. (NASA)
5 February 1971, 09:18:11 UTC, T + 108:15:09.30: The Apollo 14 Lunar Module Antares (LM-8), with astronauts Alan B. Shepard and Edgar D. Mitchell aboard, landed at the Fra Mauro Highlands, The Moon.
This was the third manned lunar landing. It was 9 years, 8 months, 30 days, 18 hours, 43 minutes, 58 seconds since Shepard had lifted off from Cape Canaveral aboard Freedom 7, becoming the first American astronaut launched into space.
5 hours, 36 minutes later, at 14:54 UTC, T + 113:51, Alan Shepard stepped on to the surface of The Moon.
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., Captain, United States Navy, Astronaut, on the surface of The Moon, 5 February 1971. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA)Edgar D. Mitchell, Sc.D., Captain, United States Navy, died last night, 4 February 2016, at the age of 85 years. (Alan B. Shepard/NASA)
Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-63) lifts off from Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center, 05:22:04 UTC, 3 February 1995. (NASA)
3 February 1995: At 12:22:03.994 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission, STS-63, was a rendezvous with the Russian space station, Mir.
Commander James Donald Wetherbee, United States Navy, on his second space flight, was the mission commander. Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Marie Collins, United States Air Force, on her first space flight, was Discovery’s pilot. This was the first time in the NASA Space Shuttle Program that a woman had been assigned as pilot of a space shuttle.
Also on board were Mission Specialists Bernard Anthony Harris, Jr., M.D.; Colin Michael Foale, Ph.D.; Janice Elaine Voss, Sc.D.; and Colonel Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov, Russian Air Force, of the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities.
Flight crew of Space Shuttle Discovery, Mission STS-63. Seated, left to right: Janice Elaine Voss, Sc.D., Mission Specialist; Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Marie Collins, U.S. Air Force, Pilot; Commander James Donald Weatherbee, U.S. Navy, Mission Commander; Colonel Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov, Russian Air Force, Cosmonaut. Standing, Dr. Bernard Anthony Harris, Jr., M.D., Mission Spcialist; C. Michael Foale, Mission Spcialist. (NASA MSFC-9414225)
The primary purpose of the mission was to conduct a close approach and fly-around of Mir to demonstrate techniques prior to an actual docking, scheduled for a later flight. A number of scientific experiments and a space walk were carried out by the crew.
Space Station Mir imaged from Space Shuttle Discovery during Mission STS-63. Souz TM-20 is docked with the space station. (NASA)
Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Shuttle Landing Facility at 11:50:19 UTC, 11 February, after completing 129 orbits. The total mission duration was 8 days, 6 hours, 28 minutes, 15 seconds.
Eileen Collins was born at Elmira, New York, 19 November 1956, a daughter of Irish immigrants to the United States of America. She graduated from high school in 1974 then attended Corning Community College, Corning, New York, where she earned an associate’s degree in Mathematics and Science, 1976. She went on to Syracuse University at Syracuse, New York, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in math and exonomics. In 1986 Collins earned a master of science degree in Operations Research from Stanford University, and three years later, received a second master’s degree in Space Systems Management from Webster University.
2nd Lieutenant Eileen M. Collins, USAF, with a Northrop T-38A Talon trainer at Vance AFB, September 1979. (U.S. Air Force)
Eileen Collins had expressed an interest in aviation and space flight from an early age. After graduating from Syracuse University, she was one of four women selected to attend U.S. Air Force pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. She graduated in 1979, earning her pilot’s wings and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. She remained at Vance AFB as a pilot instructor, flying the Northrop T-38A Talon supersonic trainer.
Collins was next sent for pilot transition training in the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, a four-engine transport. She served as a pilot at Travis Air Force Base, California.
From 1986–1989, Captain Collins was assigned as Assistant Professor in Mathematics at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Next, she became only the second woman to attend the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, graduating with Class 89B.
Major Eileen M. Collins, U.S. Air Force, with McDonnell F-4E-31-MC Phantom II 66-0289, at Edwards AFB, 1990. (U.S. Air Force)Eileen Collins (Irish America Magazine)
In 1990, Major Collins was accepted for the NASA astronaut program, and was selected as an astronaut in 1992.
Eileen Marie Collins was awarded the Harmon Trophy for her flight aboard Discovery (STS-63). In 1997, she flew as pilot for Atlantis (STS-84). She commanded Columbia (STS-93) in 1999, and Discovery (STS-114) in 2005.
Colonel Collins retired from the Air Force in January 2005, and from NASA in May 2006. With a remarkable record of four shuttle flights, she has logged 38 days, 8 hours, 10 minutes of space flight. During her career, she flew more than 30 aircraft types, and logged a total of 6,751 hours.
Colonel Eileen M. Collins, U.S. Air Force, NASA Astronaut. (Annie Liebovitz)
1 February 2003, 09:00:18 a.m., Eastern Standard Time: Space Shuttle Columbia, nearing the end of Mission STS-107, traveling Mach 19.5 (13,434 miles per hour, 21,620 kilometers per hour) at 209,800 feet (63,950 meters) over Texas, suffered catastrophic structural failure and disintegrated. All seven members of the crew were killed.
81.7 seconds after liftoff on 16 January, Columbia was at approximately 66,000 feet (20,100 meters) altitude and 12.5 miles (20.1 kilometers) down range, accelerating through Mach 2.46 (1,623 miles per hour, 2,612 kilometers per hour). Several pieces of insulating foam broke off of the external fuel tank (what NASA referred to as “foam shedding”) and struck the leading edge and underside of Columbia‘s left wing. It is believed that at least one of these pieces of foam punctured a hole in the wing’s surface, estimated to be 6 inches × 10 inches (15 × 25 centimeters).
Columbia was scanned as it passed overhead the Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, at approximately 7:57 a.m., CST, (13:57 UTC) 1 February 2003. Debris can be seen coming from the shuttle’s left wing. (NASA Johnson Space Flight Center)
During reentry, the internal structure of the wing was no longer protected by the heat resistant material of the leading edge. The extreme heat caused structural failure.
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) launches on Mission STS-107, 16 January 2003. (NASA)
Columbia (OV-102) was America’s first space shuttle. It flew into space for the first time 11 April 1981. STS-107 was its 28th flight. During those missions, Columbia orbited the Earth 4,808 times and spent 300 days, 17 hours, 40 minutes, 22 seconds in space flight. 160 astronauts served aboard her. She traveled 125,204,911 miles (201,497,722 kilometers).
The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over North America during reentry, 1 February 2003. (AP)
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 flight crew. Front row, left to right: Colonel Rick Douglas Husband, U.S. Air Force, Mission Commander; Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D., Mission Specialist; Commander William Cameron McCool, U.S. Navy, Pilot. Back row, left to right: Captain David McDowell Brown, M.D., U.S. Navy, Mission Specialist; Captain Laurel Blair Salton Clark, M.D., U.S. Navy, Mission Specialist; Lieutenant Colonel Michael Phillip Anderson, U.S. Air Force, Mission Specialist; Colonel Ilan Ramon, Israeli Air Force, Payload Specialist. (NASA)
The flight crew of Apollo 14, Edgar D. Mitchell, Alan B. Shepard and Stuart A. Roosa, stand in front of their Saturn V rocket, AS-509, at Space Flight Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center. (NASA)
31 January 1971, 04:03:02 a.m., Eastern Standard Time: Apollo 14 (AS-509) lifted off for The Moon from Space Flight Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Mission Commander was Captain Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., United States Navy. The Command Module Pilot was Colonel Stuart Allen Roosa, United States Air Force, and the Lunar Module Pilot was Captain Edgar Dean Mitchell, Sc.D., United States Navy. Their destination was the Fra Mauro Highlands.
Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission of the Apollo Program, and the third to land on the surface of the moon.
Alan Shepard was the first American astronaut. He flew into space aboard a Mercury spacecraft, Freedom 7, launched from Cape Canaveral by a Redstone rocket, 5 May 1961.
Captain Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Mission Commander, Apollo 14. (NASA)
Mitchell and Roosa had not flown in space before. This would be their only space flight.
The Apollo Command/Service Module was built by the Space and Information Systems Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Downey, California.
The SPS engine was an AJ10-137, built by Aerojet General Corporation of Azusa, California. It burned a hypergolic fuel combination of Aerozine 50 and nitrogen tetraoxide, producing 20,500 pounds of thrust (91.19 kilonewtons). It was designed for a 750 second burn, or 50 restarts during a flight.
The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage, liquid-fueled heavy launch vehicle. Fully assembled with the Apollo Command and Service Module, it stood 363 feet (110.642 meters) tall. The first and second stages were 33 feet (10.058 meters) in diameter. Fully loaded and fueled the rocket weighed 6,200,000 pounds (2,948,350 kilograms). It could lift a payload of 260,000 pounds (117,934 kilograms) to Low Earth Orbit.
The first stage was designated S-IC. It was designed to lift the entire rocket to an altitude of 220,000 feet (67,056 meters) and accelerate to a speed of more than 5,100 miles per hour (8,280 kilometers per hour). The S-IC stage was built by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was 138 feet (42.062 meters) tall and had an empty weight of 290,000 pounds (131,542 kilograms). Fully fueled with 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of RP-1 and 318,065 gallons (1,204,000 liters) of liquid oxygen, the stage weighed 5,100,000 pounds (2,131,322 kilograms). It was propelled by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, producing 1,522,000 pounds of thrust (6770.19 kilonewtons), each, for a total of 7,610,000 pounds of thrust at Sea Level (33,850.97 kilonewtons). These engines were ignited seven seconds prior to lift off and the outer four burned for 168 seconds. The center engine was shut down after 142 seconds to reduce the rate of acceleration. The F-1 engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation at Canoga Park, California.
The S-II second stage was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. It was 81 feet, 7 inches (24.87 meters) tall and had the same diameter as the first stage. The second stage weighed 80,000 pounds (36,000 kilograms) empty and 1,060,000 pounds loaded. The propellant for the S-II was liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The stage was powered by five Rocketdyne J-2 engines, also built at Canoga Park. Each engine produced 232,250 pounds of thrust (1,022.01 kilonewtons), and combined, 1,161,250 pounds of thrust (717.28 kilonewtons).
Stuart A. Roosa wearing an ILC Dover A7L full-pressure suit, 31 January 1971. (NASA)
The Saturn V third stage was designated S-IVB. It was built by Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB was 58 feet, 7 inches (17.86 meters) tall with a diameter of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). It had a dry weight of 23,000 pounds (10,000 kilograms) and fully fueled weighed 262,000 pounds. The third stage had one J-2 engine and also used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for propellant. The S-IVB would place the Command and Service Module into Low Earth Orbit, then, when all was ready, the J-2 would be restarted for the Trans Lunar Injection.
Apollo 14’s S-IVB third stage, after the Lunar Module Antares was extracted. The S-IVB was then directed to impact the Moon, 4 February 1971. (NASA)
Eighteen Saturn V rockets were built. They were the most powerful machines ever built by man.
Apollo 14 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, 4:03:02 a.m., EST, 31 January 1971. (NASA)
