It’s remarkable to think that the samples Apollo 16 brought back more than half a century ago still have secrets to reveal ...

and indeed all of the Apollo landing sites, will need to be protected. “There was a move afoot to declare them a world heritage site, which is run through the U.N.,” says Launius.

Jones: Let’s start with how you guys were involved, if at all, in selecting the Apollo 16 landing site. Duke: Well, the selection was [by] a science committee. They wanted to go to the highlands ...

Apollo 12 was still the beginnings of lunar exploration, and simply from a PR perspective, NASA would want to demonstrate a precision landing on the moon. The landing site selection made it clear ...