Episode 71: The Apollo Program, Part XVI

 

Before we jump into the Apollo 16 mission we are going to say good bye to two astronauts - and before we do that, here is one of those Seiger covers that caused so many problems:

And the Bulova watch that Dave Scott wore during his thirs EVA on the moon after the crystal on his Omega popped off:

He was also wearing the Bulova in this photo of him next to the US Flag - the watch's strap can be seen on the arm lifted in salute.

And now on to our two eulogies

First is Apollo 15's Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin. This is neither here nor there, but many photos of Irwin (particularly the one above) made me think of an older version of Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. After returning to the lunar lander follwoing the mission's third EVA, a doctor monitoring Irwin's heartbeat back on Earth said he was basically having a heart attack. His heart would continue to plague him throughout his post-NASA life. He survived three heart attacks back on Earth, but the fourth one proved fatal.

Air Force Colonel James Benson Irwin was buried at Arlignton National Cemetery in Section 3, Grave 2503.

In my excitment to get to Apollo 13, I completely neglected to eulogive Apollo 12 astronaut Dick Gordon. A few specifics of his post-NASA life are included in this week's episode.

Navy Captain Richard Francis Gordon, Jr. was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 18, Grave 30047.

The Apollo 16 mission insignia's red, white, and blue shield is supposed to represent the people of the United States of America for their support of the space race. The sixteen stars around the edge of the insignia represent the mission number.

Scientists hoped that Apollo 16's landing zone - the Descartes Highlands - would provide more volcanic information about the moon's early history. What it actually provided was proof that that portion of the lunar surface had little to no evidence of volcanic activity... oops!

When mission commander John Young and lunar module pilot Charlie Duke climbed Stone Mountain (at the base of which they are parked in the above photo), they were 500 feet above the lunar lander, the highest point any Apollo astronauts would be above their lander.

Sadly, this is one of the better photos of House Rock that I could find, but there isn't much in the picture to establish scale. The rock was said the be the height of a four-story building.

The above picture of John Young jumping in the moon's low gravity while saluting the flag is my favorite photo from the Apollo 16 mission. 

The above footage had been converted to 4K video from the original "Grand Prix" footage shot by Charlie Duke of John Young driving the lunar rover. It looks like he is going a lot faster than the eight miles an hour (or thirteen kilometers an hour) he was actually traveling.

On the return flight to Earth, command module pilot Ken Mattingly performed the second deep space spacewalk.