Apollo 14 was the first Apollo mission to land astronauts in the Moon’s Fra Mauro region.
The lunar module Antares touched down there on February 5, 1971, carrying Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell. Stuart Roosa remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module Kitty Hawk. Fra Mauro had originally been selected as Apollo 13’s landing site, but that mission had to abort its landing after an oxygen-tank explosion.
Shepard and Mitchell explored the area during two moonwalks and collected rocks and soil. Their work helped scientists study material ejected by the impact that formed the Imbrium Basin.
Fra Mauro is often called a highlands region, but it is also associated with a geological formation of ejecta deposits. Apollo 14 was NASA’s third successful crewed lunar landing mission.