Apollo 14 Overview

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Mission Objectives

 

The Apollo 14 mission successfully landed the third exploration team on the lunar surface. The scientific objectives of the Apollo 14 Mission were:

 

•To collect geologic samples including a contingency sample in case an early abort became necessary
•To deploy and activate a suite of scientific experiments

         (a) Soil Mechanics Experiment

         (b) Passive Seismic Experiment

         (c) Active Seismic Experiment

         (d) Suprathermal Ion Detector

         (e) Cold Cathode Gage

         (f) Laser Ranging Retroreflector

         (g) Charged-particle Lunar Environment Experiment

         (h) Solar Wind Composition Experiment

         (i) Lunar Portable Magnetometer

•To perform a geologic sampling traverse to Cone crater with an emphasis on sampling and photography of blocks of material ejected from Cone crater

 

 

Landing Site Selection

 

The Apollo 14 lunar module (LM) landed in the Fra Mauro region.  The landing site is 1230 km south of the center of the Imbrium basin and 550 km south of the southern rim crest of the basin.  The site was selected to study a lunar stratigraphic unit called the Fra Mauro Formation, which covers a substantial part of the earthward lunar surface.  The LM landed about 1100 m west of Cone crater, which is located on a ridge of the Fra Mauro Formation.

 

 

Surface Science

 

During the first Extravehicular activity (EVA) the crew traversed westward over the smooth terrain for a round-trip distance of ~550 m and deployed the Apollo lunar surface experiments package (ALSEP).  Sixty-nine rock samples for which locations have been determined were collected by the crew: seven in the contingency sample, 29 in the comprehensive sample, 31 in the bulk sample, and two small football size rocks.

 

During the second EVA the crew traversed eastward from the LM and covered a roundtrip distance of ~2900 m.  During the traverse they crossed the smooth terrain, the Fra Mauro ridge unit, and a section through the continuous ejecta blanket of Cone crater to within 20 m of the crater rim crest.  Forty-eight rock samples, the locations of which have been determined were collected at points along the traverse.  The modularized equipment transporter (MET) was used to transport samples and collection tools.

 

 

Source: Apollo 14 Preliminary Science Report Mission Description