Alfred ‘Al’ Worden, Apollo 15 astronaut. Instead, the task was handed to Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irvin. It would fire its rocket engine to cause it … During the return from the moon to earth he also conducted the first spacewalk in deep space, becoming the first human ever to see both the entire earth and moon simply by turning his head. This week in 1969, the Apollo 9 crew splashed down after a 10-day mission.
Although the photograph gives the impression of fiery destruction of the spacecraft, the ablative material was performing as it was designed to. Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, by a giant Saturn V launch vehicle and only minutes later was inserted into orbit around Earth. Here, astronaut Russell L. Schweickart performs a spacewalk on the fourth day of the Earth-orbital mission. Results. It kicked off a series of missions in which astronauts spent twice as much time on the lunar surface in general -- and outside the lunar module in particular -- than the previous record holder, Apollo 14. The Apollo 15 flight capped an already-impressive career as an astronaut, including important work on the pioneering Apollo 9 and Apollo 12 missions, as well as the perilous flight of Apollo 13. About 2.5 hours after launch, the still-attached S IVB third stage was reignited to provide the final boost toward the Moon. They left one out and it was called the ‘Return to Earth’ program.
After the journey back from the Moon, the Apollo 11 command module sheds flaming pieces of its protective ablative covering as it hurtles through the Earth atmosphere toward splash down, July 24, 1969.
Recovery on Earth: Aug. 7, 1971. After the Apollo 15 Lunar Module Falcon lifted from the lunar surface on August 2, 1971, it rendezvoused and docked with the Command/Service Module Endeavour. Return to Earth Apollo 16 set new records for time spent on the lunar surface, time spent on lunar-surface EVAs, samples recovered from the Moon and number of photos taken. The following Apollo mission each brought moon rocks back to earth, they were Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
The mission succeeded with nine out of 10 experiments on the lunar surface and 15 from lunar orbit, and with numerous biological experiments and engineering trials and demonstrations. After transferring across the lunar samples and other equipment, Falcon was jettisoned. Mr Worden served as the Command Module pilot on Apollo 15, meaning he never got to walk on the surface on the Moon. Apollo 15 was the fourth mission in which humans walked on the Moon and the first in which they drove.