On this day in 1971, the Apollo 14 Lunar Module, carrying astronauts Alan B. Shepard and Edgar D. Mitchell, successfully landed on the Moon, marking NASA’s third manned lunar landing.
The mission’s primary goal was the collection of lunar rocks and soil samples and lunar exploration. The soil and rock sampling was for the geochronological determination of the Moon’s evolution and its comparison with that of Earth. A remote data collection station was assembled on the Moon and left for continuous data collection and surface monitoring experiments. The Apollo 14 astronauts were Alan B. Shepard, Edgar D. Mitchell, and Stuart A. Roosa. Astronauts Shepard and Mitchell landed on the Moon (February 5, 1971) and performed the sampling, the EVA, and deployment of the lunar experiments.
