Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Shepard Roosa Mitchell
Launched: January 31, 1971 Landed: February 5, 1971 Splashdown: February 9, 1971
"...It's been a long way, but we're here."
Less than a year after the "successful failure" of Apollo 13, the mission of Apollo 14 accomplished much of what its predecessor had hoped to do. Thanks to a new piece of equipment, a two-wheeled push cart ("modular equipment transporter") for carrying tools and instruments, Shepard and Ed Mitchell were able to spend more time exploring the Moon's surface, venture farther from the lunar module, and collect more samples and scientific data than previous missions. And the irrepressible Shepard made history by becoming the first man to swat a golf ball on the Moon. Shepard's flight capped a fruitful relationship with Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center. In 1961, Marshall's Redstone rocket carried him into space, and in 1971 Marshall's Saturn V enabled him to become the only one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts to set foot on the Moon.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Exploration. A significant historical year for this entry is 1961.
Location. 34° 42.666′ N, 86° 39.339′ W. Marker is in Huntsville, Alabama, in Madison County. Marker can be reached from Tranquility Base, half a mile west of Old Madison Pike NW, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville AL 35805, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Lovell Swigert Haise (here, next to this marker); Scott Worden Irwin (here, next to this marker); Conrad Gordon Bean (here, next to this marker); Young Mattingly Duke (here, next to this marker); Armstrong Collins Aldrin (here, next to this marker); Cernan Evans Schmitt (here, next to this marker); McDivitt Scott Schweickart / Stafford Young Cernan (a few steps from this marker); Schirra Eisele Cunningham / Borman Lovell Anders (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Huntsville.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 27, 2013, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 693 times since then and 7 times this year. Last updated on July 17, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 27, 2013, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.