Jan 31 1971
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(New page: January 31-February 9: NASA's Apollo 14 (AS-509) carried three- man crew on successful lunar landing mission. LM-8 Antares landed on moon's Fra Mauro and two astronauts conducted e...)
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January 31-February 9: NASA's Apollo 14 (AS-509) carried three- man crew on successful lunar landing mission. LM-8 Antares landed on moon's Fra Mauro and two astronauts conducted experiments and explored lunar surface for 9 hrs 24 min before rejoining orbiting CSM-110 and returning safely to earth with lunar samples in CM Kitty Hawk.
January 31-February 3: Spacecraft, carrying Astronauts Alan B. Shepard, Jr. (commander), Stuart A. Roosa (CM pilot), and Edgar D. Mitchell (LM pilot), was launched from [[KENNEDY SPACE CENTER|KSC Launch Complex 39, Pad A, at 4:03 pm EST Jan. 31 by Saturn V booster. Launch was 40 min 3 sec later than planned because of high overcast clouds and rain. Delay caused revision of flight azimuth from 72° to 75.6°. Launch was watched by about 2500 invited guests, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia of Spain, and Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Jr. Spacecraft and S-IVB combination entered parking orbit with 188.9- km (117.4-mi) apogee and 183.1-km (113.8-mi) perigee.
Mid-course correction (MCC-1) modified trajectory so spacecraft arrival time at moon would be same as if launch had been on time. CSM separated from LM/S-IVB/MU at 3:02 GET. Onboard TV was initiated to cover CSM docking with LM, but difficulty in docking was encountered. First five docking attempts by CM pilot Roosa were unsuccessful. Mission Control in Houston, watching on TV, studied problem that could prevent extraction of LM and make lunar landing impossible. Alternate missions also were under study. Astronauts noted catches seemed properly cocked but did not release. Sixth try however, was successful; docking was achieved at 4:57 GET, 1 hr 54 min later than planned. Separated S-IVB/IMU impacted lunar surface at 83:18 GET (2:41 am EST Feb. 4) at 7°49' south latitude and 26° west longitude 174 km (108 mi) southeast of planned impact point. Apollo 12 seismometer detected impact and showed vibrations for about 2 hrs.
Unscheduled 2-hr 22-min TV transmission from spacecraft was initiated at 10:00 GET to troubleshoot probe and drogue of docking mechanism. Crew removed probe and drogue but found no foreign material or abnormal damage. Capture latch assembly was actuated and system performed nominally. Crew and ground were unable to determine why CSM and LM had failed to dock properly, but they found no indication that systems would not work normally again. Officials decided mission would continue as planned [see Feb. 1]. Second midcourse correction, with 10.1-sec SPS burn at 30:36 GET, increased velocity by 21.7 m per sec (71.1 fps). Following maneuver, crew completed about nine frames of dim-light photography on earth's dark side and continued to check out systems. GET update was performed at 55:40 GET to add the 40 min 3 sec lost by launch delay, MCC-3, scheduled for 60:38 GET, was not necessary. Third TV transmission, for 42 min beginning at 60:40 GET, showed Shepard and Mitchell transferring into LM and checking out LM systems. MCC-4, at 77:38 GET with 0.6-sec SPS burn, changed velocity 1.1 m per sec (3.5 fps).
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