Daily Archives: August 7, 2011

Two out of three chutes carry Apollo 15 astronauts home safe

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Vd75Ptg9I
Apollo 15 Splashdown

(Saturday, August 7, 1971, 4:46pm EDT) — The astronauts of Apollo 15 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean today and brought to a safe conclusion their successful 12-day moon-exploring mission, which space agency officials called an “epic scientific voyage.” During Earth re-entry and descent, however, one of the three parachutes failed to open fully. As a result, descent velocity was 2.8mph faster than planned, but the crew was unharmed.