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Mystery Of Missing Apollo Booster Solved

Saturn S-IVB Booster. Photo: HistoricSpacecraft.com
Saturn S-IVB Booster. Photo: HistoricSpacecraft.com

The mystery of a missing Apollo booster is finally solved. NASA found the rocket part on the moon, more than 40 years later.

Ever since Apollo 13, NASA would crash the spacecraft’s booster onto the surface of the moon. The hope was to better understand the structure of the moon by measuring the seismic impact on the lunar surface.

After sending the booster from Apollo 16 to the moon’s surface in 1972, NASA lost contact with it.

A robotic camera orbiting the moon recently located the landing site after more than 40 years.

NASA scientists said it took this long since the landing site was so far away from earlier predictions.

Apollo 16 was the 5th mission to land on the moon. John Young, who grew up in Orlando, was the mission’s commander.

[caption id="attachment_54917" align="alignleft" width="743"] Images of the Apollo 16 booster crash site on the surface of the moon. Photo: NASA[/caption]

Brendan Byrne is WMFE's Assistant News Director, managing the day-to-day operations of the WMFE newsroom, editing daily news stories, and managing WMFE's internship program.

Byrne also hosts WMFE's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration.