Astronaut Young Salutes Flag At Apollo 16 Descartes Landing Site. [NASA Photograph]; 799-250/7, MSCL--85
Charles M. Duke, Jr. (Photographer) Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972. Presumed First Edition, First printing. This is one of multiple originals issued. Single sheet, printed on both sides. The format is approximately 8 inches by 10 inches. This is a single sheet, with printing/imagery on both sides, in a plastic sleeve. On the front side is a large color photograph of Astronaut John W. Young, Commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, saluting the U.S. flat as the Descartes landing site. At the center of the image is the American Flag fully unfurled and the space suited Astronaut with his right arm raised in salute. The Lunar Landing Module is behind the flag on the left side of the image, as is the Lunar Roving Vehicle. In the background behind the flag and Astronaut Young is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. There is a lengthy caption on the back which reads APOLLO 16 EVA PHOTOGRAPH--Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the U.S. flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-1). Astronaut Charles M. Duke, Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture. The Lunar Module "Orion" is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked besides the LM. The object behind Young in the shade of the LM is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. Stone Mountain dominates the background in this lunar scene. Apollo 16 (April 16–27, 1972) was the tenth crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate to land on the Moon. It was the second of Apollo's "J missions", with an extended stay on the lunar surface, a focus on science, and the use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The landing and exploration were in the Descartes Highlands, a site chosen because some scientists expected it to be an area formed by volcanic action, though this proved not to be the case. The mission was crewed by Commander John Young, Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke and Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 16, 1972, Apollo 16 experienced a number of minor glitches en route to the Moon. These culminated with a problem with the spacecraft's main engine that resulted in a six-hour delay in the Moon landing as NASA managers contemplated having the astronauts abort the mission and return to Earth, before deciding the problem could be overcome. Although they permitted the lunar landing, NASA had the astronauts return from the mission one day earlier than planned. After flying the Lunar Module to the Moon's surface on April 21, Young and Duke spent 71 hours—just under three days—on the lunar surface, during which they conducted three extravehicular activities or moonwalks, totaling 20 hours and 14 minutes. The pair drove the lunar rover, the second used on the Moon, for 16.6 miles. On the surface, Young and Duke collected 211 lbs 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 April 27, 1972. John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018) was an American astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He became the 9th person to walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. He is the only astronaut to fly on four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo command and service module, the Apollo Lunar Module and the Space Shuttle. Before becoming an astronaut, Young received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and joined the U.S. Navy. After serving during the Korean War he became a naval aviator and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. As a test pilot, he set several world time-to-climb records. Young retired from the Navy in 1976 with the rank of captain. In 1962, Young was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 2. He flew on the first crewed Gemini mission (Gemini 3) in 1965, and then commanded the 1966 Gemini 10 mission. In 1969, he flew as command module pilot on Apollo 10, and became the first person to orbit the Moon alone. In 1972, he commanded Apollo 16 and spent three days on the lunar surface exploring the Descartes Highlands with Charles Duke. Young also commanded STS-1 in 1981, the Space Shuttle program's first launch, and STS-9 in 1983, both of which were on Columbia. Young served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1974 to 1987, and retired from NASA in 2004, after 42 years of service. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: John Young, Apollo 16, Lunar Landing, Astronaut, Descartes Landing, Extravehicular Activity, Lunar Landing Module, Lunar Roving Vehicle, Flag Salute, Iconic Photograph, Charles Duke, Moonwalk
[Book #86155]
Price: $45.00