Apollo 14 – the landing at Fra Mauro

The prime crew of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission. From left to right they are: Command Module pilot, Stuart A. Roosa, Commander, Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Lunar Module pilot Edgar D. Mitchell. The Apollo 14 mission emblem is in the background. Credit: NASA

Mission name: Apollo 14

Crew: 

   Alan B. Shepard Jr. – Commander

   Stuart A. Roosa – Command Module Pilot     

   Edgar D. Mitchell – Lunar Module Pilot

Spacecraft: Apollo CSM-110, Apollo LM-8

Launch vehicle: Saturn V SA-509

Launch site: Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A

Launch date: 31 January 1971, 21:03:02 UTC

Lunar landing date: 5 February 1971, 09:18:11 UTC, Fra Mauro

Return launch: 6 February 1971, 18:48:42 UTC

Landing date: 9 February 1971, 21:05:00 UTC

Landing site: South Pacific Ocean

Flight duration: 9 d, 00 h, 01 min, 58 s

Apollo 14 space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 21:03:02 UT, January 31, 1971, on a lunar landing mission. Credit: NASA

Apollo 14, carrying a crew of three astronauts: Alan B. Shepard Jr. (1923–1998), Stuart A. Roosa (1933–1994), and Edgar D. Mitchell (1930–2016), lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on January 31, 1971, to begin the third crewed mission to land on the Moon. The crew experienced challenges in docking with the Lunar Module Antares and six attempts were required before a "hard dock" was achieved.

   On February 5, 1971, Lunar Module "Antares" made the most precise landing to date in the hilly uplands of the Fra Mauro crater. It was the third successful human lunar landing, and the first in the lunar highlands. Astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell spent a total of 33.5 hours on the Moon and performed two extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), totaling 9 hours and 23 minutes, setted up an automated scientific laboratory called Apollo Lunar Scientific Experiments Package (ALSEP), and collected a total of 42.28 kilograms of Moon rock and soil for a geological investigation back on the Earth. During the moon landing, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa remained in lunar orbit in the Command Module, "Kitty Hawk". Altogether, Apollo 14 spent 2.8 days in lunar orbit, circling the Moon 34 times. The crew returned safely to Earth on February 9, 1971, landing in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa after a flight of 9 days and 2 minutes.

View of light reflections with a portion of the Moon during Translunar Injection of the Apollo 14 mission. Credit: NASA

Apollo 14 Mission Details

   After a delay of 40 minutes, 2 seconds due to clouds and rain, Apollo 14 was launched into Earth parking orbit on 31 January 1971 at 21:03:02 UT from pad 39A of Kennedy Space Center on Saturn V SA-509. Earth orbit insertion occurred at 21:14:51 UT followed by translunar injection at 23:37:34. An early first mid-course correction was made to make up for the launch delay so the spacecraft would arrive at the Moon on schedule.

   The Command and Service Module (CSM) Kitty Hawk separated from the S-IVB stage containing the Lunar Module (LM) Antares at 00:05:31 UT on 1 February. Five attempts were made to dock the CSM and the LM, all unsuccessful because the catches on the docking ring did not release. The sixth attempt, at 02:00:02 UT, was successful and no further problems with the docking mechanism occurred. The S-IVB stage was released into a lunar impact trajectory. It impacted the lunar surface on 4 February at 07:40:55.4 UT at 8.09º S, 26.02º W with a velocity of 2.54 km/s at a 69 degree angle from the horizontal. A second mid-course correction was made on 2 February and a third on 4 February. Lunar orbit insertion occurred at 06:59:43 UT on 4 February.

   The LM, with Shepard and Mitchell aboard, separated from the CSM, piloted by Roosa, at 04:50:44 UT on 5 February and landed at 09:18:11 UT in the hilly upland region 24 km north of the rim of Fra Mauro crater at 3.64589º S latitude, 17.47194º W longitude (as determined from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images). The LM landed on the slope of a small depression, tilted at 8 degrees.

View of the Lunar Module separation prior to landing. Images were taken during Revolution 12 of the Apollo 14 mission. Credit: NASA

Earthrise near the Pasteur Crater. View from the Lunar Module Antares window. Credit: NASA

   Shepard and Mitchell made two moonwalk extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) totaling 9 hours, 23 minutes. The first EVA began at 14:42:13 UT and ended at 19:30:03 UT. During this first EVA the astronauts deployed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) and other experiments. During the second EVA, which took place from 8:11:15 to 12:45:56 UT on 6 February, the astronauts walked almost to the rim of nearby Cone crater, collecting samples along the traverse. At the end of this walk Shepard used a contingency sampler with a 6-iron connected to the end to hit two golf balls. The astronauts traversed a total of 3.45 km and collected 42.28 kg of lunar samples.

   The LM lifted off the Moon on 6 February at 18:48:42 UT after 33 hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface. After docking with the CSM (piloted by Stuart A. Roosa) at 20:35:53 UT, the LM was jettisoned at 22:48:00 UT and impacted the Moon at 3.42º S, 19.67º W, between the Apollo 12 and Apollo 14 seismic stations, at 00:45:25 UT on 7 February.

Astronaut Alan Shepard holding the American flag on the Moon. Photo by Edgar Mitchell. Credit: NASA

View of the Lunar Module Antares to the north. Image was taken during EVA 1 of the Apollo 14 mission. Credit: NASA

   Transearth injection began at 01:39:04 UT on 7 February. One small mid-course correction was made on 8 February during transearth coast. The CM separated from the SM at 20:35:44 UT on 9 February. Apollo 14 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 9 February 1971 at 21:05:00 UT after a mission elapsed time of 216 hrs, 1 min, 58 secs. The splashdown point was 27 deg 1 min S, 172 deg 39 min W, 765 nautical miles south of American Samoa. The astronauts and capsule were picked up by the recovery ship USS New Orleans. This was the last Apollo mission in which the astronauts were put in quarantine after their return.

    Performance of the spacecraft, the third of the Apollo H-series missions, was good for most aspects of the mission. The Apollo 14 CSM mass of 29,229 kg was the launch mass including propellants and expendables, of this the Command Module (CM-110) had a mass of 5758 kg and the Service Module (SM-110) 23,471 kg. The Lunar Module mass of 15,264 kg was the total mass of the LM ascent and descent stages including propellants (fuel and oxidizer). The dry mass of the ascent stage was 2303 kg and it held 2370 kg of propellant. The descent stage dry mass (including stowed surface equipment) was 2237 kg and 8354 kg of propellant were onboard initially. 

View from the west of the Lunar Module Antares looking east. Image was taken during EVA 1 of the Apollo 14 mission. Credit: NASA

The Apollo 14 Lunar Module LM as seen by the two moon-exploring crewmen of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission, photographed against a brilliant sun glare during the first extravehicular activity EVA-1. A bright trail left in the lunar soil by the two-wheeled Modularized Equipment Transporter MET leads from the LM. Credit: NASA

After installing the line of geophones of the Apollo Seismic Experiment (ASE), astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Lunar Module pilot, operates a hand-held thumper as he walks back toward the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) central station. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 Lunar Module pilot, walking between the Lunar Module and Cone crater ridge during the Lunar Surface EVA 2. Credit: NASA

Apollo 14 landing site panorama. Left from the Lunar Module Antares is Solar Wind Collector. Credit: NASA

The Apollo Command and Service Modules CSM are photographed against a black sky background from the Lunar Module LM above the Moon. While astronauts Alan B. Shepard, Jr., commander, and Edgar D. Mitchell, Lunar Module pilot, descended in the LM Antares to explore the Fra Mauro region of the Moon, astronaut Stuart A. Roosa, Command Module pilot, remained with the CSM Kitty Hawk in lunar-orbit. Credit: NASA

The Apollo 14 Command Module approaches touchdown in the South Pacific Ocean. The splashdown occurred on February 9, 1971, approximately 765 nautical miles south of American Samoa. The three crew men were flown by helicopter to the USS New Orleans prime recovery ship. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Lunar Module pilot, is assisted out of the Command Module (CM) by a U.S. Navy underwater demolition team swimmer during the Apollo 14 recovery operations in the South Pacific Ocean. Mitchell was followed out of the spacecraft by astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., commander; and Stuart A. Roosa, Command Module pilot. Roosa is partially visible behind Mitchell. The Apollo 14 splashdown occurred at 3:04:39 p.m. (CST), Feb. 9, 1971, in the South Pacific Ocean, approximately 765 nautical miles from American Samoa. They were transported by U.S. Navy helicopter to the USS New Orleans, prime recovery vessel. Credit: NASA

© 2026, Andrew Mirecki