July 25, 2016 - The First Parking Job on the Moon

The First Parking Job on the Moon Astronaut David R. Scott kicks up a dusty cloud of lunar regolith during Apollo 15, the fourth crewed landing and first of three missions to utilize the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). Launched forty-five years ago this week, Apollo 15 took three days to reach the Moon. Astronauts Scott and James Irwin landed the lunar module Falcon at Hadley Rille on July 30, leaving Alfred Worden in lunar orbit in the command module Endeavour. The LRVs greatly extended the range that Apollo astronauts could explore, with Scott and Irwin traversing a total of 27.8 km (17.3 mi) in three hours of driving time over the course of three EVAs. Scott and Irwin departed the lunar surface on August 2, leaving the Falcon’s descent stage, five science packages, and the LRV behind.

Image credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

July 25-31, 2016

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 25

1978: Viking 2 orbiter ceases operation
1984: Svetlana Savitskaya becomes first woman to walk in space
2000: Zvezda Service Module docks with International Space Station

Tuesday 26

Last Qtr Moon 7:00 PM ET
Uranus 3° north of Moon

1958: Explorer IV launched
1971: Apollo 15 launched, fourth lunar landing mission, first mission to use lunar rover
2005: STS-114 Discovery launched