Fifty years ago today, on Aug. 2, 1971, a lunar liftoff was televised for the first time when the ascent stage of Apollo 15's Lunar Module Falcon departed the surface of the Moon with astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin onboard. This clip combines the televised initial departure with onboard 16mm film, which includes views of the landing site and the descent stage, as well as of Hadley Rille. To highlight the all-Air Force crew, Al Worden in the orbiting Command Module Endeavour played the U.S.

Right after leaving Earth, Apollo 17’s Command and Service Module America flipped around to dock with the Lunar Module Challenger inside the Saturn upper stage. This sequence shows that approach and capture, the first step toward the last Apollo landing. Follow @spaceeves #Apollo17 #MoonLanding #SpaceHistory | SpaceEve