Tag: Jim Irwin

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.