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Apollo 14

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Apollo 14, in January–February 1971, resumed crewed Moon landings after the Apollo 13 accident. Commander Alan Shepard, the first American in space, became at 47 the oldest person to walk on the Moon — and famously hit golf balls there.

Datum31 January 1971 – 9 February 1971

AgenturaNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

TělesoThe Moon

SEE ALSO →Apollo 14

◉ REÁLNÉ FOTO · NASA / images.nasa.gov

Fig. 1 — Start rakety Saturn V s misí Apollo 14.

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updated · 10 Jul 2026#Měsíc#NASA#Apollo

pollo 14 finally reached the place Apollo 13 never did — the Fra Mauro highlands. After a nine-month pause forced by the Apollo 13 explosion, Shepard, Roosa and Mitchell proved the Apollo program could learn from crisis and carry on.

APOLLO 14 CREW

Alan Shepard

COMMANDER

One of the original Mercury Seven and the first American in space (Freedom 7, 1961). Grounded for years by Ménière’s disease of the inner ear, he returned to flight status after experimental surgery in 1968. At 47, on Apollo 14 he became the oldest American in space and the oldest person on the Moon.

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Stuart Roosa

COMMAND MODULE PILOT

A former smokejumper firefighter, later an Air Force fighter pilot. He spent almost two days alone in lunar orbit. He carried hundreds of tree seeds aboard, which grew into “Moon trees” distributed across the United States after his return.

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Edgar Mitchell

LUNAR MODULE PILOT

A U.S. Navy fighter pilot. With commander Shepard, he came within about 30 metres of Cone crater during the second moonwalk. During the trip home, without NASA’s knowledge, he conducted a private ESP experiment.

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The landing was nearly scrubbed by a lunar module computer glitch and a faulty rendezvous radar — Shepard and Mitchell had to complete the descent partly blind. On the surface, during the second moonwalk, Shepard hit two golf balls with an improvised club, creating one of the program’s most famous moments.

MISSION TIMELINE

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A return after ten years — and a module that refused to dock

Commander Alan Shepard, the first American in space (1961), waited ten years for his second flight — grounded for years by an…

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A false alarm, an unreached crater, and golf on the Moon

Shortly before the planned landing burn, Antares’s computer began receiving a false mission-abort signal — likely from a loose…

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Edgar Mitchell u americké vlajky na povrchu Měsíce, EVA-1, Apollo 14 (NASA).

The last quarantine of the Apollo program

While Shepard and Mitchell were on the surface, Roosa spent nearly two days alone in orbit — photographing the Moon for future…

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Posádka Apolla 14 v respirátorech mává na palubě USS New Orleans po přistání (NASA).

MISSION IN NUMBERS

Crew3

Launch31. 1. 1971

Moon landing5. 2. 1971

Landing siteFra Mauro

Splashdown9. 2. 1971

Launch vehicleSaturn V (SA-509)

Call signsKitty Hawk / Antares

Samples returned42,8 kg

FACTS

Alan Shepard, the first American in space (1961), waited ten years for his second flight because of an inner-ear disorder.
Docking the command and lunar modules initially failed — had it failed completely, the landing would not have happened.
Shepard and Mitchell missed Cone crater by less than 30 metres, as later confirmed by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images.
Shepard hit two golf balls one-handed on the Moon — the mission’s most famous moment.
Roosa carried hundreds of tree seeds aboard, which grew into “Moon trees” distributed across the United States.
The Apollo 14 crew was the last in the Apollo program required to quarantine — the only one quarantined even before launch.