Apollo 14 was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. It was the last of the "H missions", landings at specific sites of scientific interest on the Moon for two-day stays with two lunar extravehicular activities.
Alan Shepard and the American flag on the Moon, Apollo 14, February 1971 (photo by Edgar Mitchell)
Stuart Roosa, Alan Shepard, Edgar MitchellApollo program← Apollo 13Apollo 15 →
Shepard in front of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, flown to simulate the landing
Shepard (left) and Mitchell during geological training
The geology of the Moon is quite different from that of Earth. The Moon lacks a true atmosphere, and the absence of free oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather. Instead, the surface is eroded much more slowly through the bombardment of the lunar surface by micrometeorites. It does not have any known form of plate tectonics, it has a lower gravity, and because of its small size, it cooled faster. In addition to impacts, the geomorphology of the lunar surface has been shaped by volcanism, which is now thought to have ended less than 50 million years ago. The Moon is a differentiated body, with a crust, mantle, and core.
False-color image of the Moon taken by the Galileo orbiter showing geological features. NASA photo
The same image using different color filters
Ancient rift valleys – rectangular structure (visible – topography – GRAIL gravity gradients) (October 1, 2014)
Ancient rift valleys – context
