The Apollo 16 command module, with astronauts John W. Young, Thomas K. Mattingly II and Charles M. Duke Jr. aboard, nears splashdown in the central Pacific Ocean to successfully conclude a lunar landing mission. This overhead picture was taken from a recovery aircraft seconds before the spacecraft hit the water. The splashdown occurred at 290:37:06 ground elapsed time at 1:45:06 a.m. (CST), April 27, 1972, at coordinates of 00:43.2 degrees south latitude and 156:11.4 degrees west longitude, a point approximately 215 miles southeast of Christmas Island.
NASA/photographer unknown
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