Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: Apollo 15

  • Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden passes away

    Laurel KornfeldMarch 19th, 2020

    Alfred M. Worden, a former astronaut who served as the command module pilot of NASA’s Apollo 15 Moon mission, died in his sleep on Wednesday, March 18, at a Sugar Land, Texas, assisted living center, at the age of 88.

  • Our Spaceflight Heritage: Leaping further – the flight of Apollo 15

    Collin SkocikAugust 2nd, 2016

    On July 26, 1971, NASA launched one of the most ambitious and spectacular space missions in history – Apollo 15. At 9:34 a.m. EDT (12:34 GMT), the gigantic Saturn V rocket lifted off from pad A at Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It carried Commander Dave Scott, Command Module Pilot Al Worden, and Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin on their flight into history – and the Moon.

  • Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Apollo 15, Hadley–Apennine and the open road

    Jason RhianAugust 3rd, 2015

    It was the Golden Age of manned exploration (and they were all men at that time) of the Solar System. Apollo 15 marked the fourth time that NASA astronauts would walk on the lunar surface. For the three-man crew, their destination would be the Moon's Hadley-Apennine region, located at Mare Imbrium – the Sea of Rains.

  • LRO discovers evidence of young lunar volcanism

    SpaceFlight InsiderOctober 13th, 2014

    With the help of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), researchers now have evidence indicating that widespread lunar volcanic activity has gradually slowed over time, as opposed to suddenly stopping about a billion years ago. LRO determined, after observing certain rock formations, that these samples were under 100 million years old. This time frame is roughly […]

  • Our Spaceflight Heritage: Roving on the lunar surface with Apollo 15

    Heather SmithJuly 31st, 2014

    On July 31, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin became the first to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), traveling more that 17 miles on the surface of the Moon. LRV was a four-wheeled, manually controlled, electrically powered vehicle that carried the crew and their equipment over the lunar surface. Apollo 15 […]

  • Opinion: Forty-five years later – what does “One Giant Leap” mean?

    Collin SkocikApril 13th, 2014

    On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong climbed down the ladder of a stubby, ungainly and fragile little spacecraft and became the first human being to set foot on another world. As he stepped cautiously into the lunar dust, he spoke the immortal words, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” Forty-five […]