Apollo 14 was the eighth crewed mission in NASA's Apollo program and the third to land on the Moon. Apollo 14 was launched from Kennedy Space Center on a Saturn V rocket. The mission was notable for being Alan B Shepard's return to space who was the commander for this mission, ten years after he became the first American in space with the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission. He was joined by command module pilot Stuart A Roosa, and lunar module pilot Edgar D Mitchell. On February 5, 1971, the Lunar Module "Antares" successfully landed in the Fra Mauro highlands, a region that Apollo 13 had originally intended to explore.

Shepard and Mitchell conducted two moonwalks (extravehicular activities or EVAs) totaling about 9 hours and 23 minutes. They deployed scientific instruments, including the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), and collected 42.8 kilograms (94.3 pounds) of lunar samples. Apollo 14 safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean and was recovered by the USS New Orleans.