“Man must rise above the Earth - to the top of the atmosphere and beyond-
for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.”
On January 31, 1971, just ten short years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, and Stuart Roosa blasted off into space on Apollo 14. Many people wondered how this “rookie” crew would be able to make the third lunar landing. Mitchell and Roosa had never been in space before, and Shepard had only been on a fifteen minute flight before he was grounded for medical reasons. The crew was aboard the Command and Service Module (CSM), which Roosa had “named Kitty Hawk, after the place where it all began.” Troubles arose soon after the launch. When Roosa tried to dock Kitty Hawk with the Lunar Module Antares, the docking mechanism wouldn’t catch. Without a hard dock, the lunar landing was off. Finally, after six tries and as Kitty Hawk was running short on fuel, Roosa rammed the two modules together and they held. Later, while his crewmates walked on the Moon, Roosa orbited the Moon 32 times taking photographs that helped to determine future Apollo landing sites. On February 6, he was rejoined by his crewmates, and Apollo 14 returned to earth. The splashdown was beautiful. Apollo 14 parachuted down just as Roosa had done so many times as a smokejumper.
Stuart Roosa circled the Moon 32 times, solo, while his crewmates walked on the Moon. He took photos that helped to determine future Apollo landing sites.
