The Apollo 16 mission once again featured the use of the lunar rover, and the astronauts traveled 17.3 miles (27.9 km) exploring the Descartes and Cayley formations using the trusty electric steed.
While Charles Duke and John Young flew the Lunar Module "Orion" to the surface, Thomas Mattingly flew the Command/Service Module, nicknamed "Casper," for 64 orbits over their heads.
Making three excursions onto the lunar highlands where they had landed, they investigated a region thought to be a part of t he Moon's original crust. (The earlier missions had landed in the Maria or lowlands, which appeared to have been created by more recent lava flows). The team spent 20 hours out of the Lunar Module. The astronauts used the rover's antennae to boost their own suits' signals, allowing them to work with a team of geologists on the Earth, who could monitor their work via a camera which was also mounted on the rover. The mission returned 213 lbs. (96.6 kg) of samples from the surface.
