Apollo 14 landed astronauts at the Fra Mauro formation in February 1971.
Commander Alan Shepard and lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell landed near the Cone crater area on February 5, while Stuart Roosa orbited above in the command module. Fra Mauro had originally been selected for Apollo 13, but that mission was aborted after an oxygen-tank failure; Apollo 14 inherited the landing target.
The formation is believed to contain ejecta from the enormous impact that created the Imbrium basin. Sampling this debris was a major scientific goal because it offered clues about the Moon’s early geological history. Shepard and Mitchell collected about 42.8 kilograms of lunar material during two moonwalks.
Apollo 14 is sometimes confused with Apollo 15 or Apollo 16 because those later missions also explored scientifically important highland terrain. Apollo 14 was the first mission to land in the lunar highlands and is also remembered for Shepard’s improvised golf swings.