Apollo 14 was the first Apollo mission to land in a lunar highland region.
On February 5, 1971, the lunar module Antares touched down in the Fra Mauro highlands, a rugged area on the Moon’s near side. Commander Alan Shepard and lunar-module pilot Edgar Mitchell explored the surface, while command-module pilot Stuart Roosa photographed the Moon from orbit.
Fra Mauro was scientifically important because it was covered with debris thrown out by the enormous impact that formed Mare Imbrium. By collecting rocks and soil there, the astronauts hoped to study material excavated from deep beneath the lunar surface and help determine the age of that major basin.
Apollo 13 had originally been assigned the Fra Mauro landing, but its oxygen-tank explosion forced the crew to abort the landing. Apollo 14 inherited the target and completed it despite docking difficulties and a troublesome abort-switch signal during descent. The mission is sometimes confused with Apollo 15 or Apollo 16, which later explored other rugged highland terrains and used the lunar rover; Apollo 14 was the first highland landing, but it relied on walking and a hand-pulled equipment cart.