Apollo 14 stage of lunar module "Antares" impacted the Moon on February 7, 1971 at 00:45:25.7 UT (February 6, 7:45 PM EST) . "Antares"' descent stage and the mission's other equipment remain at Fra Mauro at . Photographs taken in 2009 by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter were released on July 17, and the Fra Mauro equipment was the most visible Apollo hardware at that time, owing to particularly good lighting conditions. In 2011, the LRO returned to the landing site at a lower altitude to take higher resolution photographs. NASA reports Multimedia Apollo 14 Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in
Apollo spacecraft feasibility study post-Project Mercury manned spacecraft plans. Deputy Administrator Hugh L. Dryden announced at the conference opening that "the next spacecraft beyond Mercury will be called Apollo." On August 30, NASA presented plans to award three feasibility study contracts for the Apollo spacecraft, conceived as a three-man Earth orbital and circumlunar craft, with growth potential for manned lunar landings. A Request For Proposal was issued on September 12, and fourteen bids were received by October 9. On October 25, NASA awarded the $250,000, six-month contracts to General Dynamics/Convair, General Electric, and the Glenn L. Martin Company. Meanwhile, members of the Space Task