Apollo 14's 50th Anniversary

On January 31, 1971 Apollo 14 launched carrying Commander Alan Shepard, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Mitchell, and Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa. Their mission was to journey to the Moon, land the Antares Lunar Module in the Fra Mauro Crater, explore more of the Moon’s surface, and conduct experiments on the surface and in orbit.  

Alan Shepard plants the US flag on the Moon during Apollo 14- image courtesy of NASA

For Alan Shepard, Apollo 14 represented a return to space flight- after becoming the first American in space in 1961 through Project Mercury and then starting preparations for the Gemini Program, Shepard was grounded with Meniere’s disease as fluid built up in his inner ear and impacted his balance. After corrective surgery in 1969, he was selected for Apollo 13 but then transferred to Apollo 14 to allow for more training.  

Apollo 14 also represented a new opportunity for NASA, following the Apollo 13 mission which had to miss its Moon landing after an onboard explosion. With new safety systems and a crew that had extra time for training, Apollo 14 touched down just 87 feet from the intended landing site on February 5. Over two days, Shepard and Mitchell collected 94 lbs of Moon rocks and set a record for the longest distance traveled on the Moon. (Shepard also hit two golf balls on the Moon, one for “Miles and miles and miles”) In orbit Roosa worked with high-resolution photography and conducted experiments.  

The three astronauts splashed down on February 9 in the Pacific Ocean.