[Apollo 14]

A PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE LONGEST MOONWALK OF THE APOLLO PROGRAM.

Apollo 14 Commander Alan Shepard and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Ed Mitchell spent a total of nine hours navigating the Lunar Surface. 4 hours and 34 minutes were dedicated to their extravehicular activity (EVA) to Cone Crater, which took longer than expected due to inconsistencies between their maps and the terrain before them. This made their EVA the longest moonwalk in history. As alluded to in the inscription, this striking image captures Mitchell, the sixth person to walk on the Moon, in the search for Cone Crater.

Cone Crater is a geological formation created by an asteroid impact encompassing the 1100 kilometer Imbrium basin, the second largest impact basin on the Moon. Shepard and Mitchell’s mission objectives were to collect samples of crater ejecta in order to help determine the temperature, pressure, and time of the Imbrium impact. Unbeknownst to the Commander and LMP, they were only 135 feet away from the crater when they decided to turn back. They still successfully completed their mission, collecting samples that were able to determine the Imbrium impact’s occurrence at approximately 3.93 billion years ago. 

NASA’s Apollo 14 Lunar Surface Journal transcribes Mitchell’s conversation with CAPCOM Fred Haise (also the Apollo 13 LMP) as they search for Cone Crater: “It's going to take longer than we expected. Our positions are all in doubt now, Freddo” (NASA, 133:06:22).