Apollo 16 landing from PDI to Touchdown

Video from the channel Apollo 16 - Apollo Flight Journal about Apollo 16, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:18. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A piece from the Apollo Flight Journal reconstructing the descent of Apollo 16's Orion lunar module, from the start of powered descent (PDI) to touchdown on the surface. It combines the onboard camera footage, the original audio between John Young, Charles Duke and Houston, and text with a brief narration explaining each phase.

A six-hour delay forced the descent to begin from about 66,000 feet, instead of the usual 50,000. PDI occurred about 500 km east of the landing site, 12 minutes from touchdown. The computer first runs program P63, which controls ignition and the braking phase; with about three minutes left it switches to P64 and tilts the module forward so the commander can see the landing area, and at about 600 m the commander selects P66 and controls attitude while the computer manages the thrust.

The audio captures the thrust checks, Houston's successive go-aheads to continue, the shutdown of the altitude and velocity lights signaling that the landing radar is now providing data, and the identification of the Gator, Lone Star and Double Spot craters. With 10% fuel remaining at 200 feet, Young takes control and lands the module. He later estimates they ended up about 200 m north and 150 m west of Double Spot, comparing the piloting to that of the LLTV trainer. The crew describes a ridge to the north and terrain less flat than expected.