On April 16, 1972, Apollo 16 launched to the moon! Apollo 16 was NASA's fifth lunar landing and the penultimate mission of the entire Apollo program. Three NASA astronauts were on board: John Young, the commander, Ken Mattingly, the command module pilot, and Charlie Duke, the lunar module pilot. They lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on a Saturn V rocket and spent three days cruising to the moon. After orbiting the moon for about a day, Young and Duke took the lunar module down to the surface