Tag: Jack Swigert

Apollo 16 Explores the Moon’s Mysterious Descartes Highlands

Apollo 16 Explores the Moon’s Mysterious Descartes Highlands

“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.

Apollo 13 Mission Remembered as ‘NASA’s Finest Hour’

Apollo 13 Mission Remembered as ‘NASA’s Finest Hour’

What was to have been America’s third lunar landing in April 1970, became a struggle to safely return the crew after an oxygen tank explosion crippled the crew’s spacecraft. During a reunion of key players involved in the Apollo 13 mission, they recalled what has been termed “NASA’s finest hour.”