Plaque, Lunar Module, Apollo 15

This plaque is a replica of the one left on the Moon by the crew of Apollo 15, which landed on the lunar surface on July 30, 1971. While command module pilot Alfred M. Worden orbited the Moon, astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin landed near Hadley Rille, performing EVAs that included driving the Lunar Roving Vehicle and deploying experiments. Because the design of the lunar module (LM) left the base of the spacecraft on the Moon after the upper stage launched back to rendezvous with the command module (CM), the plaque attached to a leg of the LM became a permanent marker on the lunar surface. Because Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon, the base of the Apollo 15's LM "Falcon" became the fourth such marker on the lunar surface.

NASA transferred this plaque to the Museum in 1972.