With the successful conclusion of the Apollo 14 mission, the Apollo project had recovered from the Apollo 13 accident.

Although Apollo 18, 19, and 20 had been canceled due to budget cutbacks, there were three mission left in the Apollo program. The astronauts on the last three missions would land at very interesting and diverse sites, make three moon walks each, and would ride in a lunar car with a range of 25 km (15 miles).