The Apollo 16 flight marked the world's fifth manned lunar landing and return mission. The Lunar Module "Orion" landed on the lunar surface on April 20 at 9:24 PM EST - after a delay of more than five hours due to a thrust vector control problem on the Command Service Module. The landing was the first to be made in the Descartes area of the lunar highlands, just 755 feet from the planned landing point During three trips in the Lunar Roving Vehicle, astronauts Young and Duke covered 16.8 miles over the lunar highland surface. They spent nine hours and seven minutes on foot conducting scientific experiments while Mattingly was conducting lunar science experiments from lunar orbit. Lunar liftoff occurred after 71 hours, two minutes on the Moon. Rendezvous and docking were normal. The Command Service Module "Casper" began its return to Earth after completing 64 lunar orbits. The astronauts landed safely in the Pacific after a mission of 265 hours, 51 minutes. Apollo 16 Launch Date: April 16, 1972, 12:54 PM EST Launch Vehicle: Saturn V Crew: Commander: John W. Young Command Service Module Pilot: Thomas K. Mattingly Lunar Module Pilot: Charles M. Duke, Jr. Approximately 4” Diameter
