Apollo 16 Preliminary Flight Plan

Three-ring, six-section “Preliminary Flight Plan” for Apollo 16, prepared by the Flight Planning Branch of the Crew Procedures Division and dated December 6, 1971. The cover heads the document “March 17 Launch” but is stamped “DO NOT DISCARD — THIS COPY BASELINE FOR APRIL 16 & MAY 15 LAUNCH,” a schedule slip the mission itself bore out: Apollo 16 (Young, Mattingly, Duke) ultimately launched on the later of those two contingency dates, April 16, 1972, still the same December baseline.

Approved by the Flight Planning Branch and Crew Procedures Division chiefs and by Donald K. Slayton as Director of Flight Crew Operations, it runs the full length of the mission—minute-by-minute CSM and LM timeline strips organized phase by phase, from Earth orbit and translunar injection through lunar orbit insertion, LM descent, the three lunar-surface EVAs (with the Lunar Roving Vehicle, flag deployment, and ALSEP offload), rendezvous and LM jettison, the post-rendezvous science phase and subsatellite launch, transearth injection, a CSM EVA, and entry, closing with consumables analysis and abbreviated and alternate mission timelines.

A separate stowage table (Table 2-B) gives an axonometric map of the entire Command Module cabin at launch, keying dozens of labeled lockers and bags to itemized lists of their contents down to individual cables, film magazines, and food packages.