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Sun and Earth:
Altitudes and Azimuths
at the Apollo Landing Sites



Altitudes and Azimuths computed by Paul Fjeld and Jim Scotti.
Last revised 21 September 2009

 

In the following table, for each each mission we list the landing and liftoff times, the start and end times for each EVA*, and the corresponding altitudes and elevations of the Sun and Earth.  The times are given in both UTC and the times used in the Journal**, usually Mission Elapsed Time.  Jim Scotti and Paul Fjeld independently calculated the altitudes and elevations after discussions that included ALSJ Contributors Phil Karn, Jr., and Ron Wells.  Differences between the Fjeld and Scotti calculations are  less than 0.5 degrees and depend on choice of emphemeris and other factors.  Fjeld and Scotti also spot checked their results with JPL Horizons, which enables ephemeris calculations for a large pallet of both observer locations and target objects.

For consistency, the Scotti results Sun and Earth Altitudes and Azimuths at each of the six Apollo landing site are Presented in the following table.





Event Time
Sun
Earth
Mission Event UTC/GMT
(hh:mm:ss)
Journal Time**
(hhh:mm:ss)
Altitude
(degrees
above
horizon)
Azimuth
(degrees
east of north)
Altitude
Azimuth
Apollo 11

Long, Lat =
+23.4333, 0.6875


Landing
20:17:39  20 July 1969
102:45:39
10.65
88.81
59:43 272.16
EVA Start
02:39:33  21 July 1969
109:07:33
13.84
88.84
59.30
272.88
EVA End
05:11:13
111:39:13
15.17
88.85
59.27
273.17
Liftoff
17:54:00
124:22:00
21.65
88.91
59.09
274.58







Apollo 12

Long, Lat =
-23.3856, -3.1975



Landing
06:54:36 19 Nov 1969
110:32:36
5.19
91.16
61.56 86.95
EVA-1 Start
11:32:35
115:10:35
7.52 91.03
61.54
87.56
EVA-1 End
15:28:38
119:06:38
9.51
90.53
61.52
88.07
EVA-2 Start 03:54:45 20 Nov 1969
131:32:45
15.79
90.60
61.48
89.65
EVA-2 End 07:44:00
135:22:00
17.72
90.51
61.48
90.09
Liftoff
14:25:47
142:03:47
21.11
90.33
61.48
90.88








Apollo 14

Long, Lat =
-17.4653, -3.6733



Landing 09:18:13  05 Feb 1971 108:15:11
10.36
89.54
66.10
96.70
EVA-1 Start 14:42:13
113:39:11
13.08
89.35
66.19
96.35
EVA-1 End 19:30:03
118:27:01
15.51
89.19
66.26
95.99
EVA-2 Start 08:11:15  06 Feb 1971
131:08:13
21.91
88.71
66.55
94.88
EVA-2 End 12:45:56
135:42:54
24.22
88.53
66.67
94.41
Liftoff 18:48:42
141:45:40
27.28
88.29
66.82
93.82








Apollo 15

Long, Lat =
+3.6528, +26.1008





Landing 22:16:29  30 Jul 1971

12.05
95.73
69.28
203.00
SEVA Start 00:16:49  31 Jul 1971

12.96
96.20
69.26
203.25
SEVA End 00:49:56

13.21
96.33
69.25
203.30
EVA-1 Start
13:13:17

18.82
99.34
69.03
204.40
EVA-1 End 19:45:59

21.76
101.01
68.91
204.98
EVA-2 Start 11:48:49   01 Aug 1971

28.89
105.41
68.52
205.83
EVA-2 End 19:01:02

32.05
107.57
68.33
206.12
EVA-3 Start 08:52:14  02 Aug 1971

37.98
112.20
67.91
206.23
EVA-3 End 13:42:04

40.00
113.99
67.75
206.20
Liftoff
17:11:23

41.45
115.34
67.63
206.18








Apollo 16

Long, Lat =
+15.5144, -8.9914






Landing
02:23:35  21 Apr 1972

14.76
86.01
77.16
319.70
EVA-1 Start 16:47:38

21.96
84.65
76.32
321.15
EVA-1 End 23:58:40

25.55
83.93
75.90
321.79
EVA-2 Start 16:33:35  22 Apr 1972

33.80
82.02
74.89
322.36
EVA-2 End 23:56:44

37.47
81.04
74.43
322.58
EVA-3 Start 15:25:28  23 Apr 1972

45.11
78.59
73.49
322.42
EVA-3 End 21:05:31

47.89
77.52
73.15
322.36
Liftoff 01:25:47  24 Apr 1972

50.02
76.61
72.90
322.29








Apollo 17

Long, Lat =
+30.7658, +20.1653





Landing 19:54:58  11 Dec 1972

13.33
95.83
45.52
240.88
EVA-1 Start 23:54:49

15.22
96.58
45.32
240.72
EVA-1 End 07:06:42  12 Dec 1972

18.63
97.96
45.09
240.42
EVA-2 Start 23:28:06

26.30
101.34
44.56
239.74
EVA-2 End 07:05:02  13 Dec 1972

29.85
103.07
44.46
239.41
EVA-3 Start 22:25:48

36.90
106.98
44.25
238.78
EVA-3 End 05:40:56  14 Dec 1972

40.19
109.09
44.28
238.48
Liftoff 22:54:37

47.79
115.05
44.42
237.80

* Following Scotti, EVA start and end times are from "Apollo" by Orloff and Harland (Springer-Praxis 2006).  Elsewhere in the Journal, EVA start and end times are more rigorously defined as the start of the final depressurization from 3.6 psi to 0 and cabin presure reaching 3.6 psi during repressurization, respectively.


** Journal time is generally Mission Elapsed Time (aka Ground Elapsed Time), times since liftoff.  The exception is Apollo 17.  A 2 hour 40 minute launch delay resulted in a decision to reset of mission clocks during translunar coast to show time elapsed since the planned time of launch.  Times in the Journal are also relative to the planned time of launch.  On Apollo 14, there was a 40 minute launch delay but no changes in clock settings.  Consequently, Journal time for Apollo 14 is Mission Elapsed Time



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