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(Friday, April 21, 1972, 11:47:28 a.m. EST; during the Apollo 16 mission to the Moon) — American astronauts John W. Young and Charles Duke became the ninth and tenth persons to walk on the Moon today after the lunar module Orion had landed as part of the Apollo 16 mission.

For about seven hours, Young and Duke walked, hopped, and drove in their electric rover car to gather rocks and soil and explore the rugged, rocky surface of the lunar highlands near the Descartes crater.

They established an atomic-powered science station and set up a camera to take pictures of interstellar phenomena. They discovered white soil beneath a thin gray surface layer. They also collected glassy spheres and large rocks, including samples of what may be ancient volcanic material.

They re-entered their lunar capsule seven hours later at 6:58:40 p.m. EST.

Young and Duke would spend a total of 71 hours on the lunar surface, during which they conducted two more moonwalks (on Apr. 22 and Apr. 23, 1972), totaling 20 hours and 14 minutes.

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The pair drove the lunar rover, the second used on the Moon, for 16.6 miles. On the surface, Young and Duke collected 211 pounds of lunar samples for return to Earth, including Big Muley, the largest Moon rock collected during the Apollo missions.

During this time Mattingly orbited the Moon in the command and service module (CSM), taking photos and operating scientific instruments. Mattingly, in the command module, spent 126 hours and 64 revolutions in lunar orbit.

After Young and Duke rejoined Mattingly in lunar orbit, the crew released a subsatellite from the service module (SM).

During the return trip to Earth, Mattingly performed a one-hour spacewalk to retrieve several film cassettes from the exterior of the service module.

Apollo 16 returned safely to Earth on Apr. 27, 1972.