The Moon

Humans on the Moon

Many people feel that the Apollo program stands as mankind's greatest technological achievement. In all, six missions landed on the surface of the moon, and three others orbited the moon without landing, including the ill-fated Apollo 13. Here is a brief summary of the successful Apollo landings on the moon and what the astronauts were doing up there.

Mission Insignia Flight EVA Date(s) Astronauts Activities Lunar EVA Time

Apollo 11 Insignia Apollo 11 7/20/69 Neil Armstrong
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Performed the 1st manned excursion on the lunar surface at their landing site in the Sea of Tranquillity. Collected 21 kg (46.3 lb.) of material during a 60 meter surface traverse. 2 hr.
31 min.
40 sec.

Apollo 12 Insignia Apollo 12 11/19/69 Charles (Pete) Conrad
Alan Bean Performed the 2nd manned excursion on the lunar surface at their landing site in the Ocean of Storms. Collected 34.3 kg of lunar material and returned parts from the Surveyor 3 spacecraft during their two EVAs. 7 hr.
45 min.
18 sec.

Apollo 14 Insignia Apollo 14 2/5/71 Alan Shepard
Edgar Mitchell Performed the 3rd manned excursion on the lunar surface at their landing site in the Fra Mauro area. Collected 42.8 kg (94.4 lb.) of lunar material during 2 EVAs and traversed approx. 1.5 km (0.9 mi.) away from the LM. 9 hr.
22 min.
31 sec.

Apollo 15 Insignia Apollo 15 7/30/71 James Irwin
David Scott Performed the 4th manned excursion on the lunar surface at their landing site in the Hadley Apennine region. First crew to use the lunar rover. Collected 76.7 kg (169 lb.) of lunar material during 3 EVAs. 18 hr.
34 min.
46 sec.

Apollo 16 Insignia Apollo 16 4/21/72 to 4/23/72 Charles Duke
John Young Performed the 5th manned excursion on the lunar surface near their landing site in the Descartes area. Collected 94.3 kg (208 lb.) of lunar material during 3 EVAs and used the lunar rover. 20 hr.
14 min.
16 sec.

apollo 17Insignia Apollo 17 12/11/72 to 12/13/72 Harrison Schmitt
Eugene Cernan Performed the 6th manned excursion on the lunar surface near their landing site in the Taurus-Littrow area. Collected 110.4 (243 lb.) of lunar material during 3 EVAs. The lunar roving vehicle allowed the crewmen to travel approx. 7.8 km (4.9 mi.) away from the LM. Eight explosive charges were placed on the lunar surface to be activated later for a seismographic experiment. 22 hr.
3 min.
57 sec.

Sources: Apollo Program Summary Report JSC-09423, Johnson Space Center, April 1975; James W. McBarron, "Summary of EVA Statistics, Systems, and Accomplish-ments," US and Russian Editor's Review Draft, Compiled as Table 7 for Chapter 14 of Foundations of Space Biology and Medicine (updated edition soon to be published). NOTE: Data included in this table was confirmed by Joey Kuhlman of the JSC History Office who consulted post-mission reports and official NASA histories; NASA Pocket Statistics, NASA HQ, 1993.