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Apollo: what happened on the six landing missions

Between July 1969 and December 1972, twelve people walked on the Moon. There were six successful landings in the Apollo program, separated by short intervals. The program ended abruptly, partly from budget pressure, partly because the geopolitical goal (beating the Soviet Union) had already been met.

Summary of the six missions

Apollo 11 (July 1969). Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed at Mare Tranquillitatis. They stayed about 21 hours on the surface, with 2h30 of EVA. Brought back 21.5 kg of lunar material.

Apollo 12 (November 1969). Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed about 200 meters from the Surveyor 3 probe, which had been there since 1967. They brought parts of the probe back to study the effects of long surface exposure.

Apollo 14 (January 1971). Alan Shepard (the first American in space, years earlier) and Edgar Mitchell landed in the Fra Mauro highlands. Shepard hit two golf balls on the Moon using an improvised handle.

Apollo 15 (July 1971). David Scott and James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille, a meandering valley probably formed by lava flow. It was the first mission to use the lunar rover (LRV), and the crew covered about 28 km on the surface.

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