Apollo 16 Explores the Moon’s Mysterious Descartes Highlands

April 5, 2022

*Apollo 16 commander John Young works at the lunar roving vehicle during the first Moonwalk of the mission on April 21, 1972. Photo credit: NASA/Charlie Duke*

‘America to the Moon’ Part 14: Apollo 16’s Challenging Mission

By Bob Granath

“That’s the most gorgeous sight I believe I have ever seen,” said Apollo 16 lunar module pilot Charlie Duke. He was looking at a 363-foot-tall Saturn V rocket on the launch pad the day before it rocketed him the Moon. Duke, along with veteran astronaut John Young and fellow rookie Ken Mattingly, piloted NASA’s fifth lunar landing mission in April 1972 – 50 years ago.

A crowd of spectators looks on as the 363-feet tall Apollo 16 Saturn V rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 1, 1971. “That’s the most gorgeous sight I believe I have ever seen,” said Apollo 16 lunar module pilot Charlie Duke as he viewed the rocket on the launch pad the day before liftoff. Photo credit: NASA

Two years earlier, Young, Duke and Jack Swigert were the back-up crew for the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. However, during training Duke was exposed to German measles. Apollo 13’s Jim Lovell and Fred Haise had immunity to the condition, but Mattingly did not.

As a precaution, Swigert joined the Apollo 13 crew filling Mattingly’s role as command module pilot. After the crew’s safe return, the back-up crew – including Mattingly – became prime for Apollo 16.

The upcoming flight was the second lunar landing to include an extended stay on the Moon, focusing more on science, and the use of the lunar roving vehicle. The landing target in the Descartes Highlands was selected because geologists believed the area was formed by volcanic activity.

The Crew

Born in San Francisco, California, Apollo 16 commander Young grew up in Cartersville, Georgia and Orlando, Florida. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering. A Navy aviator, he was selected by NASA in 1962 as a member of the second group of agency astronauts. He flew as pilot of Gemini 3 in 1965, command pilot of Gemini 10 in 1966 and as command module pilot on Apollo 10 in 1969.

The Apollo 16 crew pauses during preparations for their mission with a training version of the lunar roving vehicle. From the left are lunar module pilot Charlie Duke, commander John Young and command module pilot Ken Mattingly. Photo credit: NASA

Young would go on to command the first Space Shuttlemission in 1981 and STS-9 in 1983. He also played a key role in helping select new teams of astronauts for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs.

Mattingly and Duke were both flying for the first time having been selected as part of NASA’s fifth group of astronauts in 1966.

A native of Chicago, Mattingly earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Auburn University in 1958. Like Young, he was a Naval aviator. After Apollo 16, he served as commander of two Space Shuttle missions — STS-4 in 1982 and STS-51C in 1985. Following his second shuttle mission, Mattingly retired from NASA and, in 1986, retired from the Navy at the two-star rank of rear admiral (upper half), and entered the aerospace industry working for Grumman, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin.

Apollo 16 astronauts John Yong, left, and Charlie Duke simulate geologic rock sampling in the Lunar Surface Training Area south of the Flight Crew Training Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA

Duke was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, but grew up in Lancaster, South Carolina. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in naval sciences from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1957, he became a U.S. Air Force pilot. He went on to earn a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following his retirement from NASA, Duke entered the Air Force Reserve becoming a brigadier general in 1979 and retiring in 1986.

As an astronaut, Duke served in the key role as capsule communicator, also known as capcom, during Apollo 11, the first lunar landing. On July 20, 1969, Duke was the sole person speaking directly to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their dramatic descent to the Moon. When the lunar module successfully landed, Armstrong announced, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

“Roger, Tranquility, we copy you (are) on the ground,” Duke responded, “You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again, thanks a lot.”

*The Apollo 16 Saturn V lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with 7.5 million pounds of thrust at 12:54 p.m. EST on April 16, 1972. Photo credit: NASA*

Following a tradition that began with the first Apollo flight with both a command module and lunar module, the crew selected names for their spacecraft. Mattingly chose “Casper” for the command module, evoking Casper the Friendly Ghost, the children’s cartoon character. The call sign chosen by Young and Duke for the lunar module was “Orion,” one of the brightest star groups seen from Earth.

“It is a prominent constellation and easy to pronounce and transmit to Mission Control,” Duke said.

Orion now is the name of the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft to be launched soon by NASA’s Space Launch System mega-rocket. It is designed to return astronauts to the Moon.

‘I was bursting with excitement.’

Apollo 16 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 12:54 p.m. EST on April 16, 1972. The countdown and launch were described as “very, very smooth,” by Kennedy’s Director of Launch Operands, Walt Kapryan.

*While John Young and Charlie Duke were at work on the Moon’s surface, Ken Mattingly was busy in lunar orbit aboard the Apollo 16 command/service module, Casper. Photo credit: NASA*

In his 1990 autobiography, Moonwalker, Duke noted the difference in flying in space the first time versus as a veteran.

“I was bursting with excitement,” he said. “My heartbeat was 140 (beats) per minute at liftoff. John’s was 70.”

After everything checked out in Earth orbit, the Saturn rocket’s third stage re-ignited and boosted Apollo 16 on the trajectory to the Moon. They entered lunar orbit on April 19.

The next day, Young and Duke climbed aboard Orion and undocked from Mattingly in Casper. While the lunar module was being prepared for landing, Mattingly was to fire the command module’s service propulsion system (SPS) engine to move to a higher, near-circular orbit.

“Whuump! We dropped the last four feet like a ton of bricks,” Charlie Duke said. The lunar module, Orion, touched down at the Descartes landing site on April 21, 1972. Photo credit: NASA/Charlie Duke

But, Mattingly reported, “No CIRC.”

As the SPS was readied for the firing, oscillations were detected in the SPS engine’s backup gimbal (steering) system. The landing was delayed while Casper and Orion stayed close giving the Mission Control team at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston time to study the problem.

After four hours of analysis, mission controllers determined the malfunction could be worked around and Young and Duke were given permission to land.

“You do have a ‘GO’ for another try,” said capcom Jim Irwin, the lunar module pilot on Apollo 15 a year earlier.

‘Whuump!’

After the descent, probes on the lunar module’s landing pads touched the surface. The “Contact” light lit on the instrument panel and Young shut down the descent engine.

“Whuump! We dropped the last four feet like a ton of bricks,” Duke said.

“We don’t have to walk far to pick up rocks,” Young added. “We’re among them.”

“Whuump! We dropped the last four feet like a ton of bricks,” Charlie Duke said. The lunar module, Orion, touJohn Young jumps a foot off the surface. “This is perfect, with the LM (lunar module), the rover, you, Stone Mountain and the flag,” Charlie Duke said. “Give me big Navy salute.” — John Young jumps a foot off the surface. “This is perfect, with the LM (lunar module), the rover, you, Stone Mountain and the flag,” Charlie Duke said. “Give me big Navy salute.” Photo credit: NASA/Charlie Duke

After time to sleep, Young and Duke were “raring to go.”

“There you are mysterious and unknown Descartes Highland plains,” Young said as he stepped on the lunar surface. “Apollo 16 is gonna change your image.”

Charlie Duke stands in the shadow of the lunar module behind the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph camera on April 22, 1972. In the left inset is a ten-minute far-ultraviolet exposure of Earth transmitting the glow caused by atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen. In the inset on the right, the knobby vertical line shows several ultra-violet emissions from Earth's sunlit atmosphere. — Charlie Duke stands in the shadow of the lunar module behind the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph camera on April 22, 1972. In the left inset is a ten-minute far-ultraviolet exposure of Earth transmitting the glow caused by atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen. In the inset on the right, the knobby vertical line shows several ultra-violet emissions from Earth’s sunlit atmosphere. Photo credit: NASA/John Young

After Duke joined Young on the surface, their first task was to unload the lunar roving vehicle. It provided battery-powered dune buggy-like transportation for traversing near their landing point. They also set up a United States flag and the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first space-based observatory. It was a precursor to the Hubble Space Telescope placed in Earth orbit in 1990 and the James Webb Telescope launched in late 2021. The day’s next task was to deploy the ALSEP, an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, a collection of experiments designed to study Moonquakes and activity below the lunar surface.

With those duties completed, the duo traveled in the lunar rover on their first geologic expedition to the slope of a crater, 0.87 miles from Orion.

“Yeow whee!,” exclaimed Duke. “This is some sight up here.”

*A television camera still showing Charlie Duke about to pick up the “football size,” 26-pound rock on the rim of a crater. Photo credit: NASA TV*

While sampling material in the vicinity, geologists in Mission Control were closely watching television images being beamed back to Earth. They noticed a rock near the lunar rover and asked the capcom to request the astronauts bring it back.

“There’s a rock we’d like you to pick up,” said follow astronaut Tony England.

“That’s a football size rock,” Young said. “Are you sure you want a rock that big? That’s 20 pounds of rock.”

“Yeah, let’s go ahead and get it,” England said.

Duke retrieved the sample and it turned out to be 26 pounds, the largest rock returned by any Apollo mission. It consisted mainly of anorthosite, a mineral formed through the cooling and solidification of volcanic lava.

John Young replaces tools on the rover during the second Apollo 16 Moonwalk at the Descartes landing site. Charlie Duke described the view from the side of Stone Mountain as "spectacular.” Photo credit: NASA/Charlie Duke — John Young replaces tools on the rover during the second Apollo 16 Moonwalk at the Descartes landing site. Charlie Duke described the view from the side of Stone Mountain as “spectacular.” Photo credit: NASA/Charlie Duke

The main objective of the second day’s Moonwalk was to visit a nearby slope that had been dubbed, “Stone Mountain.” Young and Duke climbed the hill of about 20 degrees to reach a cluster of five craters, known as “Cinco Craters,” to collect rock and soil samples.

Their geological expedition took them 2.4 miles from the Orion and 499 feet above the valley floor. The Moonwalkers were at the highest elevation above the lunar module of any Apollo mission. They marveled at the view from the side of Stone Mountain, which Duke described as “spectacular.” Next, they drove to a crater 66 feet across before heading back to Orion.

“OK, you guys had a 7-hour, 23-minute EVA (extravehicular activity, or Moonwalk)”, said capcom England. It was the longest Apollo Moonwalk to date.

‘Look at the size of that rock!’

After Young and Duke left Orion for their third Moonwalk, they drove toward a landmark named “North Ray Crater.” On the way, boulders gradually became larger and more abundant as they approached North Ray. They also found a boulder taller than a four-story building.

”Look at the size of that rock,” said Duke. “The closer I get to it, the bigger it is.”

The astronauts named it “House Rock.” Samples taken from this boulder went against the belief that the area was formed by volcanic activity. House Rock had numerous bullet hole-like marks indicting micrometeoroids from space had impacted the rock.

*Charlie Duke is collecting lunar samples at the rim of a large crater. The lunar roving vehicle is parked in the background. Photo credit: NASA/John Young*

Young and Duke also sampled soil that was never in sunlight due to the shape of another boulder.

Upon arriving at the rim of North Ray Crater, they were 2.7 miles away from the lunar module. At just over half a mile wide and 750 feet deep, it was the largest of any visited by Apollo astronauts.

“The crater walls were so steep we couldn’t get close enough to see the bottom,” Duke said.

Their next stop was downhill.

“We just set a new speed record,” Young said, “17 kilometers an hour (11 mph) on the Moon.”

“John drives the rover and my only job is holding on,” joked Duke.

The lunar roving vehicle gets a speed workout by John Young in the "Grand Prix" run during the first Apollo 16 Moonwalk at the Descartes landing site. — *The lunar roving vehicle gets a speed workout by John Young in the “Grand Prix” run during the first Apollo 16 Moonwalk at the Descartes landing site. Photo credit: NASA/Charlie Duke*

As their time on the surface was drawing to a close, Young parked the lunar rover about the length of a football field east of the lunar module so its television camera, controlled remotely by Mission Control, could see Apollo 16’s liftoff.

They re-entered Orion after speeding 20 hours and 14 minutes exploring the lunar surface and collecting 211 pounds of rock and soil samples. The lunar module Orion lifted off from the Moon at 8:25 p.m. EST on April 23, after a 71-hour stay.

‘Casper has captured Orion.’

While Young and Duke were at work on the Moon, Mattingly was busy in lunar orbit.

Casper’s service module included scientific instrument module, or SIM bay, with powerful cameras designed to take detailed images of the lunar surface. Mattingly also deployed a small Particles and Fields Sub-satellite to measure charged dust and magnetic fields around the Moon as it orbited the Earth.

During Apollo 16’s return trip to Earth, Ken Mattingly, right, retrieves film cassettes from the cameras in the scientific instrument module on April 25, 1972. Charlie Duke, standing in the command module’s hatch assists. Photo credit: NASA

However, Mattingly’s most important job was to reunite with Young and Duke. The lunar module caught up with the in the command-service module, completing the rendezvous 2 hours and 10 minutes after the liftoff from the Moon.

“I believe we’re there,” said Mattingly. “Casper has captured Orion.”

During Apollo 16’s return trip to Earth, Mattingly performed a 1-hour, 23-minute spacewalk on April 25. He retrieved film cassettes from the cameras in the SIM bay. As he moved along the service module’s exterior, Duke stood in the command module’s open hatch passing the film canisters to Young inside. Taking place about 199,000 miles from Earth, Mattingly was only the second astronaut to venture outside a spacecraft in “deep space.”

*Apollo 16 commandeer John Young, speaks to the crew of the USS Ticonderoga following his recovery along with Ken Mattingly and Charlie Duke. Photo credit: NASA*

On April 27, about 11 days after liftoff, the command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 217 miles southeast of Christmas Island. The crew was recovered and transported by helicopter to the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga. In addressing the ship’s crew, Young praised the group effort that led to a successful mission.

“Your saw an example of goal-oriented teamwork in action,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing that made this country great and the kind of thing that’s going to keep it that way.”

On May 25, 1972, the Apollo 16 crew returned to NASA’s Florida spaceport to thank employees for their ride to the Moon.

“I’ve been able to come back to Kennedy for the past 10 years and say ‘thank you,’” said Young. “Thank you to the people who’ve worked so hard on our machines.”

*“He hangs the Earth on nothing,” says Job 26:7. Apollo 16 astronauts captured this Earthrise scene with a camera during their second revolution of the Moon on April 19, 1972. Photo credit: NASA*

Dotty and Charlie Duke Share Their Christian Faith

By Bob Granath

*Charlie Duke, left, and his wife Dotty are popular speakers sharing their Christian faith. Photo courtesy: Duke Ministry for Christ*

Following his retirement from NASA as an astronaut and as a brigadier general from the U.S. Air Force, Apollo 16 lunar module pilot Charlie Duke and his wife Dotty became popular motivational speakers sharing their Christian faith. They make presentations to groups using NASA films and telling personal stories about their experiences and the Apollo mission to the Moon.

They often make the point that you do not have to travel in space to understand God’s creation.

“In 1972, aboard Apollo 16, I saw with my own eyes what is written in the Scriptures,” Duke said in his 1990 book, Moonwalker. He points to two passages in the Bible’s Old Testament.

“It is He who sits above the circle of the Earth.” – Isaiah 40:22

“He hangs the Earth on nothing.” – Job 26:7

Charlie and Dotty Duke wrote about their lives and Christian faith in the 1990 book, Moonwalker. — *Charlie and Dotty Duke wrote about their lives and Christian faith in the 1990 book,* Moonwalker. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChronicle.com

Duke asked how did ancients such as the Prophet Isaiah and the writer of the Bible’s book of Job know that the Earth was a circle and the world was hung on nothing?

“God inspired these two writers over 2,800 years ago,” Duke said. ”He was the One who hung the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the stars in their places.”

But. Duke goes on to explain that he didn’t need to go to the Moon the find God.

“I found Him in the front see of my car . . . when I opened my heart to Jesus,” said Duke. “And my life hasn’t been the same since.”

In the early 1980’s, the couple formed Duke Ministry for Christ. According to their website, the organization was created to “answer the call of sharing their testimonies of what God had done in their lives and their marriage.”

Read more about their association at: https://www.dukeministriesforchrist.org

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 14th in a series of feature articles marking the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the space agency and its contractors sent astronauts from Earth beginning a period of exploration that will lead to pioneering flights planned for the 21st century. This December, read about a lunar geologist’s dream expedition.