John Young commanded Apollo 16, NASA's fifth mission to land astronauts on the Moon.
Young flew with lunar-module pilot Charles Duke and command-module pilot Thomas Mattingly. Apollo 16 launched on April 16, 1972, and landed in the Descartes Highlands on April 21. Young and Duke conducted three lunar surface excursions, while Mattingly photographed and studied the Moon from orbit.
The mission used the lunar roving vehicle, allowing the surface crew to travel much farther from the landing module than earlier crews. They collected geological samples and deployed scientific instruments, including a heat-flow experiment and a seismic station.
Young later commanded the first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, in 1981. Charles Duke is sometimes mistaken for Apollo 16's commander because he was the lunar-module pilot, but Young held command of the mission.