Video: 'APOLLO 16 NEWS REPORTS ( APRIL - MAY 1972)' (Apr. 20, 1972, at 25:14)
(Thursday, April 20, 1972, 9:23:35 p.m. EST; during the Apollo 16 mission to the Moon) — After hours of uncertainty and concern, the astronauts of Apollo 16 finally got the go-ahead and descended to a delayed but successful landing tonight in the mountains of the Moon.
Commander John Young and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke steered their landing craft, Orion, to a smooth touchdown on a rolling, boulder?strewn plateau surrounded by mountains, craters, and volcanic-like terrain.
Their landing, the nation’s fifth in three years, was delayed nearly six hours when the command ship, piloted by Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly, developed slight oscillations in its rocket engine. These were caused by a malfunction of its secondary guidance system.
Video: 'Apollo 16 - Landing in the Descartes Highlands - April 20, 1972'
But, if anything, the delay sharpened the two astronauts’ excitement upon their arrival at the region known as Descartes, after a nearby crater. Their landing was just a few hundred feet off the exact target.
Duke looked out Orion‘s windows at sights only eight other men have ever seen and exclaimed, “Well, Orion is finally here, Houston. fantastic.”
Because of the delay — the landing was originally scheduled for 3:41 p.m. EST — the first extravehicular activity (EVA), or moonwalk, was delayed until Apr. 21, 1972, at 11:47 a.m. EST.
