Apollo Lunar facts

While investigating facts about Apollo Lunar Module and Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, I found out little known, but curios details like:

Alan Shepard pulled out a makeshift six-iron he smuggled on board Apollo 14 and hit two golf balls on the lunar surface, becoming the first -- and only -- person to play golf anywhere other than Earth.

how big was the apollo 11 lunar module?

NASA accidentally auctioned off for just $995 a bag that was used by Apollo 11 astronauts to collect the first lunar sample. When the buyer sent the bag to NASA for verification, the space agency realized its mistake and refused to return it.

What happened to apollo 13 lunar module?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what happened to the apollo lunar modules. Here are 50 of the best facts about Apollo Lunar Lander and Apollo Lunar Rover I managed to collect.

what happened to the apollo 11 lunar module?

During his Presidency Richard Nixon established the EPA & OSHA, ended the Vietnam War, signed into law the Clean Air Act, desegregated southern schools, presided over Apollo 11 lunar landings, opened diplomatic relations with communist China, and initiated a detente with the Soviet Union
Preventing an abort of the Apollo 11 mission has been attributed to the work of Margaret Hamilton, the lead flight software designer for Project Apollo. She was 31 when the lunar module landed on the moon, running her code, and is credited for coining the term “software engineering.”
When the Apollo 8 astronauts were sued by an atheist activist for reading from Genesis in lunar orbit, the Supreme Court threw out the case. Their reason? "Lack of jurisdiction" in orbit around the Moon.
All the 360 kilogrammes of lunar soil samples brought back from the Apollo missions have now rusted after corroding their vacuum bottle seals and being exposed to water and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.
Apollo 11 astronauts were quarantined for 21 days after returning from the moon to prepare for "the remote possibility that they are harboring unknown lunar organisms that might endanger life on earth"
The most isolated human being ever was Al Worden, command module pilot of Apollo 15, who in lunar orbit was at a maximum distance of 2,235 miles from his fellow astronauts on the surface. While on the other side of the Moon, no communication with Earth or his comrades was possible.
NASA management was so worried Apollo 10 astronauts would land on the moon against orders, they shorted them on fuel so they could only descend the lunar module to the panned 16km lunar altitude.
The fabric and wood pieces from the Wright Brothers airplane were flown on the Apollo 11 mission and were in the lunar module Eagle that landed on the Moon with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.
In 1969, upon request from Richard Nixon, NASA made 250 display plaques for the 50 US states, 135 countries, and the UN. Flags from all the countries and states were flown on board Apollo 11 to the moon and back, and were gifted to each respective state along with fragments of the lunar surface.

apollo lunar facts — What happened to apollo 13 lunar module after jettison?

Why were the six apollo lunar sites chosen?

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In 1971 David Scott smuggled a 'Fallen Astronaut' sculpture onto the Apollo 15 lunar mission and placed it on the Moon's surface to "commemorate the astronauts and cosmonauts who have died in the advancement of space exploration."

The last person on the moon was Eugene Cernan as Commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo lunar landing. His final words on the moon were, "We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17." - source

After NASA retrieved a stolen lunar sample collection bag from the 1969 apollo 11 moon mission, they inadvertently sold it at auction to a private collector for $995 in 2015. after going to court and losing their case & ownership, the collector sold the bag at auction for $1.8 million in 2017. - source

On APOLLO mission 14, Alan Shepard smuggled in a custom made 6 iron golf club head which attached to a rock collector, and proceeded to hit 2 gold balls on the lunar surface.

After Lunar Module saved astronauts on Apollo 13 mission, it's company sent a bill for $312,421.24 for towing services (as a joke) to company who made malfunctioned service module, and they in response declined payment stating last 3 times they carried Lunar Module for free. - source

When was the apollo lunar module lm-2 made?

The American flag planted on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11 was blown over by the exhaust of the Lunar Module when taking off

How was the apollo 11 lunar module nicknamed?

When Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin left the lunar lander to step onto the moon, one of them broke off the toggle switch that armed the ascent engines. Aldrin jammed a pen into the resulting hole to arm the engines so they could get home.

A NASA intern stole lunar samples from the Apollo mission, arranged them on his bed and literally had "sex on the moon" with his girlfriend.

The Apollo 10 lunar module was jettisoned and is currently in orbit around the sun. It's exact location is unknown but a group of amateur astronomers have been looking for it since 2011.

During the Apollo 11 lunar descent, Neil Armstrong, who was manually piloting the craft, heart rate was under 90bpm. After the Eagle touched down, it spiked to almost 160 bpm

The "tires" on the Apollo lunar rovers were made of a woven mesh of zinc-coated piano wire with titanium treads to keep them from sinking into the lunar soil. The tracks they left are only 1/2" deep.

When was the apollo lunar module made?

While Neil Armstrong was walking on the moon the Soviet Union had an unmanned spacecraft in lunar orbit on a mission to obtain soil samples. It crashed on the moon the day Apollo 11 left.

The analysis of the camera of the Surveyor 3 lunar landing probe, which was brought back by the crew of Apollo 12 in 1969, two years after it landed, showed that bacteria that had entered it during manufacturing had survived the lunar conditions.

The crew for the Apollo 15 lunar mission all graduated from the University of Michigan. During their mission, they left behind a certificate establishing a UM alumni chapter on the moon.

The Apollo Lunar Module engines used fuel so caustic that they had to be completely rebuilt after each firing, so they couldn't be tested prior to launch. They had to be perfect, and work the first time.

How long was the apollo 11 lunar module on the moon?

During first lunar landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were literally lost for the duration of being on the Moon. Neither NASA nor Michael Collins from Columbia module orbiting the Moon were able to locate the landed Apollo 11 for 22 hours it remained on the surface.

The Grumman Corporation made both the Apollo Lunar Lander and the American Postal Service Trucks

Moon rock samples retrieved by NASA's Apollo missions found zirconium to be present in lunar rock.

The NASA Apollo missions to the Moon brought back samples of lunar rock which contained yttrium.

The American flag planted on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission was a nylon flag purchased for $5.50 from a government catalog, was reportedly knocked over by exhaust as the lunar module took off, and is theorized to have been disintegrated by sunlight and space radiation.

Apollo 17 Astronaut Gene Cernan ripped the fender off their lunar rover by accident, and fixed it with standard gray duct tape and a map.

The Soviets traded a gram of lunar material gathered by Luna 24 for lunar material gathered by Apollo astronauts.

The United States Postal Service trucks and the Apollo 16 Lunar Landing Module were manufactured by the same company.

Buzz Aldrin, one of the first two humans to land on the Moon in the Apollo 11 lunar mission, turned down a full scholarship offer from MIT (which he would later attend for graduate school) and went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

The Apollo 12 backup crew secretly added pictures of Playboy Playmates to the astronauts' lunar checklists

The some of the highest heart rates recorded during the Apollo missions didn't come from launch, but instead from exiting the Lunar Module thanks to some design flaws

The Apollo 11 astronauts were scheduled to have a sleep period immediately after the moon landing but it was postponed at the astronaut's request because they wanted to walk on the lunar surface first

In anticipation of Google lunar X Prize, NASA warned lunar visitors not to get within 1.2 miles of Apollo landing sites.

There was a third astronaut with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission, Michael Collins, who stayed back on Apollo 11 (orbiting the moon) while Neil and Buzz took the lunar module and made history on the moon’s surface.

A speech was written for President Nixon just in case the Apollo 11 astronauts were unable to launch off the lunar surface... NASA's most probable disaster scenario.

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