title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: In 1984 Volkswagen, in cooperation with RWE, released the second generation "'Golf citySTROMer", an electric version of the Mk2 Golf. It was the first electric Volkswagen to enter serial production as the Mk1 citySTROMer was only a prototype vehicle. The Mk2 citySTROMer had a range of approximately and used 16 gel-electrolyte batteries mounted under the cargo area and rear seats. Just 100 Mk2 citySTROMers were produced and sold for 45,000DM (~US$34,000) until production ceased in 1985. The citySTROMer name was continued in later models; the Jetta citySTROMer and the Mk3 Golf citySTROMer.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: As with the North American Rabbit, the second-generation Golf was produced for North America in Pennsylvania. When sales in North America failed to live up to expectations and with increasing productions costs, the Westmoreland Assembly Plant was closed in July 1988. Subsequent Golfs sold in North America came from the Puebla assembly plant, in Mexico. The Mk2 Golf was discontinued in Europe in 1991, but Mexican-made Mk2 models remained available in North America for another year.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: In its first years on sale in North America, 1985 and 1986, the Golf II maintained sealed-beam square headlights, while the GTI bore flush headlights (from the Jetta). All Golfs gained the flush "aerolamps" in 1987 after a design freshening to move it more upscale in the wake of the introduction of the Brazilian-built Fox (Voyage in Brazil) in North America. This is also the reasoning for the model being called "Golf GL", while virtually no equipment changes occurred. The 1985 U.S. models are easy to distinguish from subsequent models due to the absence of a high-mounted brake light; these became required of all cars sold in the U.S. for 1986.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: The GTI was "Motor Trend" magazine's Car of the Year for 1985, as well as VWVortex's "Best Golf of all time".


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: In its first year on sale in the U.S., Golf sales were eight percent below those of the 1984 Rabbit. Sales of the all-new 1985 Jetta, by contrast, skyrocketed compared with the 1984 model. In 1986, the Jetta became VW's bestseller in North America, a position it has held ever since.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: As with the Mk1, there was a "warm hatch" version known as the Golf GT. Introduced in 1987, it featured the GTI's exterior styling, namely the red stripe exterior trim, and wheel-arch spoilers but with a standard 1.8 L engine, available in an automatic and with 5 doors (unlike the GTI). It only lasted for a few years, but with the reintroduction of the GTI in 1989 (the GTI 16v was produced continuously from 1987 to 1992), this model bore the concept. Year by year, the GTI with the 8 valve engine lost its GTI-like features, getting standard Golf brakes in 1990, suspension in 1991, losing the MFA computer, and finally being optional with an automatic, a first in GTI history. All GTI models got the European quad-headlight grille with the upgrade to big bumpers in 1990.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: A 2.0 L engine producing replaced the 1.8 in 1990 - 1992 North American 16V models. This version included 15" 2pc BBS RM wheels. In the interior, the Recaro seats no longer had vinyl bolsters of earlier GTIs.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: The Golf Mk2 was introduced in Mexico in March 1987 to replace the successful Caribe (Golf Mk1). It was available with two variants of the 1.8-litre engine: A , and the previously used in the Caribe GT, the Atlantic GLS, and the Corsar. It came in C, CL and GL trims, with a 4-speed manual gearbox for the lesser engine (C and CL), and a 5-speed manual or optional 3-speed automatic for the more powerful Golf GL. Tires for the C and CL were 155 SR 13, and P 175/70 R 13 for the GL. In 1988 the Golf received the same modifications as in Europe, but for the nameplates (which changed for 1989). In 1989 a GTI version was introduced with a "Digifant" fuel injected variant of the 1.8-liter engine with no catalytic converter.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: In Japan, all models were sold with fuel injected and catalyzed engines as the CLI and GLI, with the GTI model also available. Sales were bolstered due to the Golf's compliance with Japanese Government dimension regulations. In 1982, the Golf was joined by the Polo in Japan which was also in compliance.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk2

text: Sales in the UK were strong; though it never quite made the top 10 for sales in any of the eight years in sale, it came close. In 1990, it was the UK's 12th most popular car with almost 50,000 sales. As of 2012, over 20 years after the Mk2 Golf's demise, it is still a very common sight on British roads and is being recognized by many as a growing classic.


title: Apollo 15

text: Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than earlier landings. Apollo 15 saw the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.


title: Apollo 15

text: The mission began on July 26 and ended on August 7, with the lunar surface exploration taking place between July 30 and August 2. Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille and explored the local area using the rover, allowing them to travel further from the lunar module than had been possible on previous missions. They spent 18 hours on the Moon's surface on four extravehicular activities (EVA), and collected of surface material.


title: Apollo 15

text: At the same time, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden orbited the Moon, operating the sensors in the scientific instrument module (SIM) bay of the service module. This suite of instruments collected data on the Moon and its environment using a panoramic camera, a gamma-ray spectrometer, a mapping camera, a laser altimeter, a mass spectrometer, and a lunar subsatellite deployed at the end of the moonwalks. The lunar module returned safely to the command module and, at the end of Apollo 15's 74th lunar orbit, the engine was fired for the journey home. During the return trip, Worden performed the first spacewalk in deep space. The Apollo 15 mission splashed down safely on August7 despite the loss of one of its three parachutes.


title: Apollo 15

text: The mission accomplished its goals but was marred by negative publicity the following year when it emerged that the crew had carried unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface, some of which were sold by a West German stamp dealer. The members of the crew were reprimanded for poor judgment, and did not fly in space again. The mission also saw the collection of the Genesis Rock, thought to be part of the Moon's early crust, and Scott's use of a hammer and a feather to validate Galileo's theory that when there is no air resistance, objects fall at the same rate due to gravity regardless of their mass.


title: Apollo 15

text: In 1962, NASA contracted for the construction of fifteen Saturn V rockets to achieve the Apollo program's goal of a crewed landing on the Moon by 1970; at the time no one knew how many missions this would require. Since success was obtained in 1969 with the sixth SaturnV on Apollo 11, nine rockets remained available for a hoped-for total of ten landings. These plans included a heavier, extended version of the Apollo spacecraft to be used in the last five missions (Apollo 16 through 20). The revamped lunar module would be capable of up to a 75-hour stay, and would carry a Lunar Roving Vehicle to the Moon's surface. The service module would house a package of orbital experiments to gather data on the Moon. In the original plan Apollo 15 was to be the last of the non-extended missions to land in Censorinus crater. But in anticipation of budget cuts, NASA cancelled three landing missions by September 1970. Apollo 15 became the first of three extended missions, known as J missions, and the landing site was moved to Hadley Rille, originally planned for Apollo 19.


title: Apollo 15

text: Scott was born in 1932 in San Antonio, Texas, and, after spending his freshman year at the University of Michigan on a swimming scholarship, transferred to the United States Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1954. Serving in the Air Force, Scott had received two advanced degrees from MIT in 1962 before being selected as one of the third group of astronauts the following year. He flew in Gemini 8 in 1966 alongside Neil Armstrong and as command module pilot of Apollo 9 in 1969. Worden was born in 1932 in Jackson, Michigan, and like his commander, had attended West Point (class of 1955) and served in the Air Force. Worden earned two master's degrees in engineering from Michigan in 1963. Irwin had been born in 1930 in Pittsburgh, and had attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1951 and serving in the Air Force, receiving a master's degree from Michigan in 1957. Both Worden and Irwin were selected in the fifth group of astronauts (1966), and Apollo 15 would be their only spaceflight. All three future astronauts had attended Michigan, and two had taken degrees from there; it had been the first university to offer an aeronautical engineering program.


title: Apollo 15

text: The backup crew was Richard F. Gordon Jr. as commander, Vance D. Brand as command module pilot and Harrison H. Schmitt as lunar module pilot. By the usual rotation of crews, the three would most likely have flown Apollo 18, which was canceled. Brand flew later on the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project and on STS-5, the first operational Space Shuttle mission. With NASA under intense pressure to send a professional scientist to the Moon, Schmitt, a geologist, was selected as LMP of Apollo 17 instead of Joe Engle.


title: Apollo 15

text: Apollo 15's support crew consisted of astronauts Joseph P. Allen, Robert A. Parker and Karl G. Henize. All three were scientist-astronauts, selected in 1967, as the prime crew felt they needed more assistance with the science than with the piloting. None of the support crew would fly during the Apollo program, waiting until the Space Shuttle program to go into space.


title: Apollo 15

text: During a mission the capsule communicators (CAPCOMs), always fellow astronauts, were the only people who normally would speak to the crew. For Apollo 15, the CAPCOMs were Allen, Brand, C. Gordon Fullerton, Gordon, Henize, Edgar D. Mitchell, Parker, Schmitt and Alan B. Shepard.


title: Apollo 15

text: Schmitt and other scientist-astronauts advocated for a greater place for science on the early Apollo missions. They were often met with disinterest from other astronauts, or found science displaced by higher priorities. Schmitt realized that what was needed was an expert teacher who could fire the astronauts' enthusiasm, and contacted Caltech geologist Lee Silver, whom Schmitt introduced to Apollo 13's commander, Jim Lovell, and to its lunar module pilot, Fred Haise, then in training for their mission. Lovell and Haise were willing to go on a field expedition with Silver, and geology became a significant part of their training. Geologist Farouk El-Baz trained the prime crew's command module pilot, Ken Mattingly to inform his planned observations from lunar orbit. The crew's newly acquired skills mostly went unused, due to the explosion that damaged the Apollo 13 spacecraft, and caused an abort of the mission. Apollo 14's CMP, Stuart Roosa, was enthusiastic about geology, but the mission commander, Shepard, less so.


title: Apollo 15

text: Already familiar with the spacecraft as the backup crew for Apollo 12, Scott, Worden and Irwin could devote more of their training time as prime crew for Apollo 15 to geology and sampling techniques. Scott was determined that his crew bring back the maximum amount of scientific data possible, and met with Silver in April 1970 to begin planning the geological training. Schmitt's assignment as Apollo 15's backup LMP made him an insider, and allowed him to spark competition between the prime and backup crews. The cancellation of two Apollo missions in September 1970 transformed Apollo 15 into a J mission, with a longer stay on the lunar surface, and the first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). This change was welcomed by Scott, who according to David West Reynolds in his account of the Apollo program, was "something more than a hotshot pilot. Scott had the spirit of a true explorer", one determined to get the most from the J mission. The additional need for communications, including from planned experiments and the rover, required the near-rebuilding of the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia.


title: Apollo 15

text: Geology field trips took place about once a month throughout the crew's 20 months of training. At first, Silver would take the commanders and LMPs from the prime and backup crews to geological sites in Arizona and New Mexico as if for a normal field geology lesson, but closer to launch, these trips became more realistic. Crews began to wear mock-ups of the backpacks they would carry, and communicate using walkie-talkies to a CAPCOM in a tent. The CAPCOM was accompanied by a geologist unfamiliar with the area who would rely on the astronauts' descriptions to interpret the findings, and familiarized the crew members with describing landscapes to people who could not see them. Considering himself a serious amateur, Scott came to enjoy field geology.


title: Apollo 15

text: The decision to land at Hadley came in September 1970. The Site Selection Committee had narrowed the field down to two sites—Hadley Rille, a deep channel on the edge of Mare Imbrium close to the Apennine mountains or the crater Marius, near which were a group of low, possibly volcanic, domes. Although not ultimately his decision, the commander of a mission always held great sway. To David Scott the choice was clear, as Hadley "had more variety. There is a certain intangible quality which drives the spirit of exploration and I felt that Hadley had it. Besides it looked beautiful and usually when things look good they are good." The selection of Hadley was made although NASA lacked high resolution images of the landing site; none had been made as the site was considered too rough to risk one of the earlier Apollo missions. The proximity of the Apennine mountains to the Hadley site required a landing approach trajectory of 26 degrees, far steeper than the 15 degrees in earlier Apollo landings.


title: Apollo 15

text: The expanded mission meant that Worden spent much of his time at North American Rockwell's facilities at Downey, California, where the command and service module (CSM) was being built. He undertook a different kind of geology training. Working with El-Baz, he studied maps and photographs of the craters he would pass over while orbiting alone in the CSM. As El-Baz listened and gave feedback, Worden learned how to describe lunar features in a way that would be useful to the scientists who would listen to his transmissions back on Earth. Worden found El-Baz to be an enjoyable and inspiring teacher. Worden usually accompanied his crewmates on their geology field trips, though he was often in an airplane overhead, describing features of the landscape as the plane simulated the speed at which the lunar landscape would pass below the CSM.


title: Apollo 15

text: The demands of the training strained both Worden's and Irwin's marriages; each sought Scott's advice, fearing a divorce might endanger their places on the mission as not projecting the image NASA wanted for the astronauts. Scott consulted Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton, their boss, who stated what was important was that the astronauts do their jobs. Although the Irwins overcame their marital difficulties, the Wordens divorced before the mission.


title: Apollo 15

text: Apollo 15 used command and service module CSM-112, which was given the call sign "Endeavour", named after HMS "Endeavour", and lunar module LM-10, call sign "Falcon", named after the United States Air Force Academy mascot. Scott explained the choice of the name "Endeavour" on the grounds that its captain, James Cook had commanded the first purely scientific sea voyage, and Apollo 15 was the first lunar landing mission on which there was a heavy emphasis on science. Apollo 15 took with it a small piece of wood from Cook's ship, while "Falcon" carried two falcon feathers to the Moon in recognition of the crew's service in the Air Force. Also part of the spacecraft were a Launch Escape System and a Spacecraft-Lunar Module Adapter, numbered SLA-19.


title: Apollo 15

text: Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center had some problems with the instruments in the service module's scientific instrument module (SIM) bay. Some instruments were late in arriving, and principal investigators or representatives of NASA contractors sought further testing or to make small changes. Mechanical problems came from the fact the instruments were designed to operate in space, but had to be tested on the surface of the Earth. As such, things like the 7.5 m (24 ft) booms for the mass and gamma ray spectrometers could be tested only using equipment that tried to mimic the space environment, and, in space, the mass spectrometer boom several times did not fully retract.


title: Apollo 15

text: On the lunar module, the fuel and oxidizer tanks were enlarged on both the descent and ascent stages, and the engine bell on the descent stage was extended. Batteries and solar cells were added for increased electrical power. In all this increased the weight of the lunar module to , heavier than previous models.


title: Apollo 15

text: If Apollo 15 had flown as an H mission, it would have been with CSM-111 and LM-9. That CSM was used by the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975, but the lunar module went unused and is now at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "Endeavour" is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, following its transfer of ownership from NASA to the Smithsonian in December 1974.


title: Apollo 15

text: The Saturn V that launched Apollo 15 was designated SA-510, the tenth flight-ready model of the rocket. As the payload of the rocket was greater, changes were made to the rocket and to its launch trajectory. It was launched in a more southerly direction (80–100 degrees azimuth) than previous missions, and the Earth parking orbit was lowered to . These two changes meant more could be launched. The propellant reserves were reduced and the number of retrorockets on the S-IC first stage (used to separate the spent first stage from the S-II second stage) reduced from eight to four. The four outboard engines of the S-IC would be burned longer and the center engine would also burn longer. Changes were also made to the S-II to dampen pogo oscillations.


title: Apollo 15

text: Once all major systems were installed in the SaturnV, it was moved from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch site, Launch Complex 39A. During late June and early July 1971, the rocket and Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT) were struck by lightning at least four times. There was no damage to the vehicle, and only minor damage to ground support equipment.


title: Apollo 15

text: The Apollo 15 astronauts wore redesigned space suits. On all previous Apollo flights, including the non-lunar flights, the commander and lunar module pilot had worn suits with the life support, liquid cooling, and communications connections in two parallel rows of three. On Apollo 15, the new suits, dubbed the "A7LB", had the connectors situated in triangular pairs. This new arrangement, along with the relocation of the entry zipper (which went in an up-down motion on the old suits), to run diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip, aided in suiting and unsuiting in the cramped confines of the spacecraft. It also allowed for a new waist joint, letting the astronauts bend completely over, and sit on the rover. Upgraded backpacks allowed for longer-duration moonwalks. As in all missions from and after Apollo 13, the commander's suit bore a red stripe on the helmet, arms and legs.


title: Apollo 15

text: Worden wore a suit similar to those worn by the Apollo 14 astronauts, but modified to interface with Apollo 15's equipment. Gear needed only for lunar surface EVAs, such as the liquid cooling garment, was not included with Worden's suit, as the only EVA he was expected to do was one to retrieve film cartridges from the SIM bay on the flight home.


title: Apollo 15

text: A vehicle that could operate on the surface of the Moon had been considered by NASA since the early 1960s. An early version was called MOLAB, which had a closed cabin and would have massed about ; some scaled-down prototypes were tested in Arizona. As it became clear NASA would not soon establish a lunar base, such a large vehicle seemed unnecessary. Still, a rover would enhance the J missions, which were to concentrate on science, though its mass was limited to about and it was not then clear that so light a vehicle could be useful. NASA did not decide to proceed with a rover until May 1969, as Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal for the Moon landing, made its way home from lunar orbit. Boeing received the contract for three rovers on a cost-plus basis; overruns (especially in the navigation system) meant the three vehicles eventually cost a total of $40 million. These cost overruns gained considerable media attention at a time of greater public weariness with the space program, when NASA's budget was being cut.


title: Apollo 15

text: The Lunar Roving Vehicle could be folded into a space 5 ft by 20 in (1.5 m by 0.5 m). Unloaded, it weighed 460 lb (209 kg) and when carrying two astronauts and their equipment, 1500 lb (700 kg). Each wheel was independently driven by a horsepower (200 W) electric motor. Although it could be driven by either astronaut, the commander always drove. Travelling at speeds up to 6to 8mph (10to 12km/h), it meant that for the first time the astronauts could travel far afield from their lander and still have enough time to do some scientific experiments. The Apollo 15 rover bore a plaque, reading: "Man's First Wheels on the Moon, Delivered by Falcon, July 30, 1971". During pre-launch testing, the LRV was given additional bracing, lest it collapse if someone sat on it under Earth conditions.


title: Apollo 15

text: The Apollo 15 Particles and Fields Subsatellite (PFS-1) was a small satellite released into lunar orbit from the SIM bay just before the mission left orbit to return to Earth. Its main objectives were to study the plasma, particle, and magnetic field environment of the Moon and map the lunar gravity field. Specifically, it measured plasma and energetic particle intensities and vector magnetic fields, and facilitated tracking of the satellite velocity to high precision. A basic requirement was that the satellite acquire fields and particle data everywhere on the orbit around the Moon. As well as measuring magnetic fields, the satellite contained sensors to study the Moon's mass concentrations, or mascons. The satellite orbited the Moon and returned data from August 4, 1971, until January 1973, when, following multiple failures of the subsatellite's electronics, ground support was terminated. It is believed to have crashed into the Moon sometime thereafter.


title: Apollo 15

text: Apollo 15 was launched on July 26, 1971, at 9:34am EDT from the Kennedy Space Center at Merritt Island, Florida. The time of launch was at the very start of the two-hour, 37-minute launch window, which would allow Apollo 15 to arrive at the Moon with the proper lighting conditions at Hadley Rille; had the mission been postponed beyond another window on July 27, it could not have been rescheduled until late August. The astronauts had been awakened five and a quarter hours before launch by Slayton, and after breakfast and suiting up, had been taken to Pad 39A, launch site of all seven attempts at crewed lunar landing, and entered the spacecraft about three hours before launch. There were no unplanned delays in the countdown.


title: Apollo 15

text: At 000:11:36 into the mission, the S-IVB engine shut down, leaving Apollo 15 in its planned parking orbit in low Earth orbit. The mission remained there for 2hours and 40 minutes, allowing the crew (and Houston, via telemetry) to check the spacecraft's systems. At 002:50.02.6 into the mission, the S-IVB was restarted for trans-lunar injection (TLI), placing the craft on a path to the Moon. Before TLI, the craft had completed 1.5 orbits around the Earth.


title: Apollo 15

text: The command and service module (CSM) and the lunar module remained attached to the nearly-exhausted S-IVB booster. Once trans-lunar injection had been achieved, placing the spacecraft on a trajectory towards the Moon, explosive cords separated the CSM from the booster as Worden operated the CSM's thrusters to push it away. Worden then maneuvered the CSM to dock with the LM (mounted on the end of the S-IVB), and the combined craft was then separated from the S-IVB by explosives. After Apollo 15 separated from the booster, the S-IVB maneuvered away, and, as planned, impacted the Moon about an hour after the crewed spacecraft entered lunar orbit, though due to an error the impact was away from the intended target. The booster's impact was detected by the seismometers left on the Moon by Apollo 12 and Apollo 14, providing useful scientific data.


title: Apollo 15

text: There was a malfunctioning light on the craft's service propulsion system (SPS); after considerable troubleshooting, the astronauts did a test burn of the system that also served as a midcourse correction. This occurred about 028:40:00 into the mission. Fearing that the light meant the SPS might unexpectedly fire, the astronauts avoided using the control bank with the faulty light, bringing it online only for major burns, and controlling it manually. After the mission returned, the malfunction proved to be caused by a tiny bit of wire trapped within the switch.


title: Apollo 15

text: After purging and renewing the LM's atmosphere to eliminate any contamination, the astronauts entered the LM about 34 hours into the mission, needing to check the condition of its equipment and move in items that would be required on the Moon. Much of this work was televised back to Earth, the camera operated by Worden. The crew discovered a broken outer cover on the Range/Range Rate tapemeter. This was a concern not only because an important piece of equipment, providing information on distance and rate of approach, might not work properly, but because bits of the glass cover were floating around "Falcon"'s interior. The tapemeter was supposed to be in a helium atmosphere, but due to the breakage, it was in the LM's oxygen atmosphere. Testing on the ground verified the tapemeter would still work properly, and the crew removed most of the glass using a vacuum cleaner and adhesive tape.


title: Apollo 15

text: As yet, there had been only minor problems, but at about 61:15:00 mission time (the evening of July 28 in Houston), Scott discovered a leak in the water system while preparing to chlorinate the water supply. The crew could not tell where it was coming from, and the issue had the potential to become serious. The experts in Houston found a solution, which was successfully implemented by the crew. The water was mopped up with towels, which were then put out to dry in the tunnel between the command module (CM) and lunar module—Scott stated it looked like someone's laundry.


title: Apollo 15

text: At 073:31:14 into the mission, a second midcourse correction, with less than a second of burn, was made. Although there were four opportunities to make midcourse corrections following TLI, only two were needed. Apollo 15 approached the Moon on July 29, and the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) burn had to be made using the SPS, on the far side of the Moon, out of radio contact with Earth. If no burn occurred, Apollo 15 would emerge from the lunar shadow and come back in radio contact faster than expected; the continued lack of communication allowed Mission Control to conclude that the burn had taken place. When contact resumed, Scott did not immediately give the particulars of the burn, but spoke admiringly of the beauty of the Moon, causing Alan Shepard, the Apollo 14 commander, who was awaiting a television interview, to grumble, "To hell with that shit, give us details of the burn." The 398.36-second burn took place at 078:31:46.7 into the mission at an altitude of above the Moon, and placed Apollo 15 in an elliptical lunar orbit of .


title: Apollo 15

text: On Apollo 11 and 12, the lunar module decoupled from the CSM and descended to a much lower orbit from which the lunar landing attempt commenced; to save fuel in an increasingly heavy lander, beginning with Apollo 14, the SPS in the service module made that burn, known as descent orbit insertion (DOI), with the lunar module still attached to the CSM. The initial orbit Apollo 15 was in had its apocynthion, or high point, over the landing site at Hadley; a burn at the opposite point in the orbit was performed, with the result that Hadley would now be under the craft's pericynthion, or low point. The DOI burn was performed at 082:39:49.09 and took 24.53 seconds; the result was an orbit with apocynthion of and pericynthion of . Overnight between July 29 and 30, as the crew rested, it became apparent to Mission Control that mass concentrations in the Moon were making Apollo 15's orbit increasingly elliptical—pericynthion was by the time the crew was awakened on July 30. This, and uncertainty as to the exact altitude of the landing site, made it desirable that the orbit be modified, or trimmed. Using the craft's RCS thrusters, this took place at 095:56:44.70, lasting 30.40 seconds, and raised the pericynthion to and the apocynthion to .


title: Apollo 15

text: As well as preparing the lunar module for its descent, the crew continued observations of the Moon (including of the landing site at Hadley) and provided television footage of the surface. Then, Scott and Irwin entered the lunar module in preparation for the landing attempt. Undocking was planned for 100:13:56, over the far side of the Moon, but nothing happened when separation was attempted. After analyzing the problem, the crew and Houston decided the probe instrumentation umbilical was likely loose or disconnected; Worden went into the tunnel connecting the command and lunar modules and determined this was so, seating it more firmly. With the problem resolved, "Falcon" separated from "Endeavour" at 100:39:16.2, about 25 minutes late, at an altitude of . Worden in "Endeavour" executed a SPS burn at 101:38:58.98 to send "Endeavour" to an orbit of by in preparation for his scientific work.


title: Apollo 15

text: Aboard "Falcon", Scott and Irwin prepared for powered descent initiation (PDI), the burn that was to place them on the lunar surface, and, after Mission Control gave them permission, they initiated PDI at 104:30:09.4 at an altitude of , slightly higher than planned. During the first part of the descent, "Falcon" was aligned so the astronauts were on their backs and thus could not see the lunar surface below them, but after the craft made a pitchover maneuver, they were upright and could see the surface in front of them. Scott, who as commander performed the landing, was confronted with a landscape that did not at first seem to resemble what he had seen during simulations. Part of this was due to an error in the landing path of some , of which CAPCOM Ed Mitchell informed the crew prior to pitchover; part because the craters Scott had relied on in the simulator were difficult to make out under lunar conditions, and he initially could not see Hadley Rille. He concluded that they were likely to overshoot the planned landing site, and, once he could see the rille, started maneuvering the vehicle to move the computer's landing target back towards the planned spot, and looked for a relatively smooth place to land.


title: Apollo 15

text: Below about , Scott could see nothing of the surface because of the quantities of lunar dust being displaced by "Falcon"'s exhaust. "Falcon" had a larger engine bell than previous LMs, in part to accommodate a heavier load, and the importance of shutting down the engine at initial contact rather than risk "blowback", the exhaust reflecting off the lunar surface and going back into the engine (possibly causing an explosion) had been impressed on the astronauts by mission planners. Thus, when Irwin called "Contact", indicating that one of the probes on the landing leg extensions had touched the surface, Scott immediately shut off the engine, letting the lander fall the remaining distance to the surface. Already moving downward at about per second, "Falcon" dropped from a height of . Scott's speed resulted in what was likely the hardest lunar landing of any of the crewed missions, at about per second, causing a startled Irwin to yell "Bam!" Scott had landed "Falcon" on the rim of a small crater he could not see, and the lander settled back at an angle of 6.9 degrees and to the left of 8.6 degrees. Irwin described it in his autobiography as the hardest landing he had ever been in, and he feared that the craft would keep tipping over, forcing an immediate abort.


title: Apollo 15

text: "Falcon" landed at 104:42:29.3 (22:16:29 GMT on July 30), with approximately 103 seconds of fuel remaining, about from the planned landing site. After Irwin's exclamation, Scott reported, "Okay, Houston. The "Falcon" is on the Plain at Hadley." Once within the planned landing zone, the increased mobility provided by the Lunar Roving Vehicle made unnecessary any further maneuvering.


title: Apollo 15

text: With "Falcon" due to remain on the lunar surface for almost three days, Scott deemed it important to maintain the circadian rhythm they were used to, and as they had landed in the late afternoon, Houston time, the two astronauts were to sleep before going onto the surface. But the time schedule allowed Scott to open the lander's top hatch (usually used for docking) and spend a half hour looking at their surroundings, describing them, and taking photographs. Lee Silver had taught him the importance of going to a high place to survey a new field site, and the top hatch served that purpose. Deke Slayton and other managers were initially opposed due to the oxygen that would be lost, but Scott got his way. During the only stand-up extravehicular activity (EVA) ever performed through the LM's top hatch on the lunar surface, Scott was able to make plans for the following day's EVA. He offered Irwin a chance to look out as well, but this would have required rearranging the umbilicals connecting Irwin to "Falcon"'s life support system, and he declined. After repressurizing the spacecraft, Scott and Irwin removed their space suits for sleep, becoming the first astronauts to doff their suits while on the Moon.


title: Apollo 15

text: Throughout the sleep period Mission Control in Houston monitored a slow but steady oxygen loss. Scott and Irwin eventually were awakened an hour early, and the source of the problem was found to be an open valve on the urine transfer device. In post-mission debriefing, Scott recommended that future crews be woken at once under similar circumstances. After the problem was solved, the crew began preparation for the first Moon walk.


title: Apollo 15

text: After donning their suits and depressurizing the cabin, Scott and Irwin began their first full EVA, becoming the seventh and eighth humans, respectively, to walk on the Moon. They began deploying the lunar rover, stored folded up in a compartment of "Falcon"'s descent stage, but this proved troublesome due to the slant of the lander. The experts in Houston suggested lifting the front end of the rover as the astronauts pulled it out, and this worked. Scott began a system checkout. One of the batteries gave a zero voltage reading, but this was only an instrumentation problem. A greater concern was that the front wheel steering would not work. However, the rear wheel steering was sufficient to maneuver the vehicle. Completing his checkout, Scott said "Okay. Out of detent; we're moving", maneuvering the rover away from "Falcon" in mid-sentence. These were the first words uttered by a human while driving a vehicle on the Moon. The rover carried a television camera, controlled remotely from Houston by NASA's Ed Fendell. The resolution was not high compared to the still photographs that would be taken, but the camera allowed the geologists on Earth to indirectly participate in Scott and Irwin's activities.


title: Apollo 15

text: The rille was not visible from the landing site, but as Scott and Irwin drove over the rolling terrain, it came into view. They were able to see Elbow crater, and they began to drive in that direction. Reaching Elbow, a known location, allowed Mission Control to backtrack and get closer to pinpointing the location of the lander. The astronauts took samples there, and then drove to another crater on the flank of Mons Hadley Delta, where they took more. After concluding this stop, they returned to the lander to drop off their samples and prepare to set up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), the scientific instruments that would remain when they left. Scott had difficulty drilling the holes required for the heat flow experiment, and the work was not completed when they had to return to the lander. The first EVA lasted 6hours and 32 minutes.


title: Apollo 15

text: The rover's front steering, inoperative during the first EVA, worked during the second and third ones. The target of the second EVA, on August 1, was the slope of Mons Hadley Delta, where the pair sampled boulders and craters along the Apennine Front. They spent an hour at Spur crater, during which the astronauts collected a sample dubbed the Genesis Rock. This rock, an anorthosite, is believed to be part of the early lunar crust—the hope of finding such a specimen had been one reason the Hadley area had been chosen. Once back at the landing site, Scott continued to try to drill holes for experiments at the ALSEP site, with which he had struggled the day before. After conducting soil-mechanics experiments and raising the U.S. flag, Scott and Irwin returned to the LM. EVA2 lasted 7hours and 12 minutes.


title: Apollo 15

text: Although Scott had eventually been successful at drilling the holes, he and Irwin had been unable to retrieve a core sample, and this was an early order of business during EVA 3, their third and final moonwalk. Time that could have been devoted to geology ticked away as Scott and Irwin attempted to pull it out. Once it had been retrieved, more time passed as they attempted to break the core into pieces for transport to Earth. Hampered by an incorrectly mounted vise on the rover, they eventually gave up on this—the core would be transported home with one segment longer than planned. Scott wondered if the core was worth the amount of time and effort invested, and the CAPCOM, Joe Allen, assured him it was. The core proved one of the most important items brought back from the Moon, revealing much about its history, but the expended time meant the planned visit to a group of hills known as the North Complex had to be scrubbed. Instead, the crew again ventured to the edge of Hadley Rille, this time to the northwest of the immediate landing site.


title: Apollo 15

text: Once the astronauts were beside the LM, Scott used a kit provided by the Postal Service to cancel a first day cover of two stamps being issued on August 2, the current date. Scott then performed an experiment in view of the television camera, using a falcon feather and hammer to demonstrate Galileo's theory that all objects in a given gravity field fall at the same rate, regardless of mass, in the absence of aerodynamic drag. He dropped the hammer and feather at the same time; because of the negligible lunar atmosphere, there was no drag on the feather, which hit the ground at the same time as the hammer. This was Joe Allen's idea (he also served as CAPCOM during it) and was part of an effort to find a memorable popular science experiment to do on the Moon along the lines of Shepard's hitting of golf balls. The feather was most likely from a female gyrfalcon (a type of falcon), a mascot at the United States Air Force Academy.


title: Apollo 15

text: Scott then drove the rover to a position away from the LM, where the television camera could be used to observe the lunar liftoff. Near the rover, he left a small aluminum statuette called "Fallen Astronaut", along with a plaque bearing the names of 14 known American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in the furtherance of space exploration. The memorial was left while the television camera was turned away; he told Mission Control he was doing some cleanup activities around the rover. Scott disclosed the memorial in a post-flight news conference. He also placed a Bible on the control panel of the rover before leaving it for the last time to enter the LM.


title: Apollo 15

text: The EVA lasted 4 hours, 49 minutes and 50 seconds. In total, the two astronauts spent 18 hours outside the LM and collected approximately of lunar samples.


title: Apollo 15

text: After the departure of "Falcon", Worden in "Endeavour" executed a burn to take the CSM to a higher orbit. While "Falcon" was on the Moon, the mission effectively split, Worden and the CSM being assigned their own CAPCOM and flight support team.


title: Apollo 15

text: Worden got busy with the tasks that were to occupy him for much of the time he spent in space alone: photography and operating the instruments in the SIM bay. The door to the SIM bay had been explosively jettisoned during the translunar coast. Filling previously-unused space in the service module, the SIM bay contained a gamma-ray spectrometer, mounted on the end of a boom, an X-ray spectrometer and a laser altimeter, which failed part way through the mission. Two cameras, a stellar camera and a metric camera, together comprised the mapping camera, which was complemented by a panoramic camera, derived from spy technology. The altimeter and cameras permitted the exact time and location from which pictures were taken to be determined. Also present were an alpha particle spectrometer, which could be used to detect evidence of lunar volcanism, and a mass spectrometer, also on a boom in the hope it would be unaffected by contamination from the ship. The boom would prove troublesome, as Worden would not always be able to get it to retract.


title: Apollo 15

text: "Endeavour" was slated to pass over the landing site at the moment of planned landing, but Worden could not see "Falcon" and did not spot it until a subsequent orbit. He also exercised to avoid muscle atrophy, and Houston kept him up to date on Scott and Irwin's activities on the lunar surface. The panoramic camera did not operate perfectly, but provided enough images that no special adjustment was made. Worden took many photographs through the command module's windows, often with shots taken at regular intervals. His task was complicated by the lack of a working mission timer in the Lower Equipment Bay of the command module, as its circuit breaker had popped en route to the Moon. Worden's observations and photographs would inform the decision to send Apollo 17 to Taurus-Littrow to search for evidence of volcanic activity. There was a communications blackout when the CSM passed over the far side of the Moon from Earth; Worden greeted each resumption of contact with the words, "Hello, Earth. Greetings from "Endeavour"", expressed in different languages. Worden and El-Baz had come up with the idea, and the geology instructor had aided the astronaut in accumulating translations.


title: Apollo 15

text: Results from the SIM bay experiments would include the conclusion, from data gathered by the X-ray spectrometer, that there was greater fluorescent X-ray flux than anticipated, and that the lunar highlands were richer in aluminum than were the mares. "Endeavour" was in a more inclined orbit than previous crewed missions, and Worden saw features that were not known previously, supplementing photographs with thorough descriptions.


title: Apollo 15

text: By the time Scott and Irwin were ready to take off from the lunar surface and return to "Endeavour", the CSM's orbit had drifted due to the rotation of the Moon, and a plane change burn was required to ensure that the CSM's orbit would be in the same plane as that of the LM once it took off from the Moon. Worden accomplished the 18-second burn with the SPS.


title: Apollo 15

text: "Falcon" lifted off the Moon at 17:11:22 GMT on August2 after 66 hours and 55 minutes on the lunar surface. Docking with the CSM took place just under two hours later. After the astronauts transferred samples and other items from the LM to the CSM, the LM was sealed off, jettisoned, and intentionally crashed into the lunar surface, an impact registered by the seismometers left by Apollo 12, 14 and 15. The jettison proved difficult because of problems getting airtight seals, requiring a delay in discarding the LM. After the jettison, Slayton came on the loop to recommend the astronauts take sleeping pills, or at least that Scott and Irwin do so. Scott as mission commander refused to allow it, feeling there was no need. During the EVAs, the doctors had noticed irregularities in both Scott's and Irwin's heartbeats, but the crew were not informed during the flight. Irwin had heart problems after retiring as an astronaut and died in 1991 of a heart attack; Scott felt that he as commander should have been informed of the biomedical readings. NASA doctors at the time theorized the heart readings were due to potassium deficiency, due to their hard work on the surface and inadequate resupply through liquids.


title: Apollo 15

text: The crew spent the next two days working on orbital science experiments, including more observations of the Moon from orbit and releasing the subsatellite. "Endeavour" departed lunar orbit with another burn of the SPS engine of 2minutes 21 seconds at 21:22:45 GMT on August4. The next day, during the return to Earth, Worden performed a 39-minute EVA to retrieve film cassettes from the service module's scientific instrument module (SIM) bay, with assistance from Irwin who remained at the command module's hatch. At approximately 171,000 nautical miles (197,000 mi; 317,000 km) from Earth, it was the first "deep space" EVA in history, performed at great distance from any planetary body. As of , it remains one of only three such EVAs, all performed during Apollo's J missions under similar circumstances. Later that day, the crew set a record for the longest Apollo flight to that point.


title: Apollo 15

text: On approach to Earth on August7, the service module was jettisoned, and the command module reentered the Earth's atmosphere. Although one of the three parachutes on the CM failed after deploying, likely due to damage as the spacecraft vented fuel, only two were required for a safe landing (one extra for redundancy). Upon landing in the North Pacific Ocean, the CM and crew were recovered and taken aboard the recovery ship, , after a mission lasting 12 days, 7hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds.


title: Apollo 15

text: The mission objectives for Apollo 15 were to "perform selenological inspection, survey, and sampling of materials and surface features in a pre-selected area of the Hadley–Apennine region. Emplace and activate surface experiments. Evaluate the capability of the Apollo equipment to provide extended lunar surface stay time, increased extravehicular operations, and surface mobility. [and] Conduct inflight experiments and photographic tasks from lunar orbit." It achieved all those objectives. The mission also completed a long list of other tasks, including experiments. One of the photographic objectives, to obtain images of the gegenschein from lunar orbit, was not completed, as the camera was not pointed at the proper spot in the sky. According to the conclusions in the "Apollo 15 Mission Report", the journey "was the fourth lunar landing and resulted in the collection of a wealth of scientific information. The Apollo system, in addition to providing a means of transportation, excelled as an operational scientific facility."


title: Apollo 15

text: Apollo 15 saw an increase in public interest in the Apollo program, in part due to fascination with the LRV, as well as the attractiveness of the Hadley Rille site and the increased television coverage.


title: Apollo 15

text: Despite the successful mission, the careers of the crew were tarnished by a deal they had made before the flight to carry postal covers to the Moon in exchange for about $7,000 each, which they planned to set aside for their children. Walter Eiermann, who had many professional and social contacts with NASA employees and the astronaut corps, served as intermediary between the astronauts and a West German stamp dealer, Hermann Sieger, and Scott carried about 400 covers onto the spacecraft; they were subsequently transferred into "Falcon" and remained inside the lander during the astronauts' activities on the surface of the Moon. After the return to Earth, 100 of the covers were given to Eiermann, who passed them on to Sieger, receiving a commission. No permission had been received from Slayton to carry the covers, as required.


title: Apollo 15

text: The 100 covers were put on sale to Sieger's customers in late 1971 at a price of about $1,500 each. After receiving the agreed payments, the astronauts returned them, and accepted no compensation. In April 1972, Slayton learned that unauthorized covers had been carried, and removed the three as the backup crew for Apollo 17. The matter became public in June 1972 and the three astronauts were reprimanded for poor judgment; none ever flew in space again. During the investigation, the astronauts had surrendered those covers still in their possession; after Worden filed suit, they were returned in 1983, something "Slate" magazine deemed an exoneration.


title: Apollo 15

text: Another controversy surrounding the "Fallen Astronaut" statuette that Scott had left on the Moon, arose later. Before the mission, Scott had made a verbal agreement with Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck to sculpt the statuette. Scott's intent, in keeping with NASA's strict policy against commercial exploitation of the US government's space program, was for a simple memorial with a minimum of publicity, keeping the artist anonymous, no commercial replicas being made except for a single copy for public exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum commissioned after the sculpture's public disclosure during the post-flight press conference. Van Hoeydonck claims to have had a different understanding of the agreement, by which he would have received recognition as the creator of a tribute to human space exploration, with rights to sell replicas to the public. Under pressure from NASA, Van Hoeydonck canceled a plan to publicly sell 950 signed copies.


title: Apollo 15

text: During the congressional hearings into the postal covers and Fallen Astronaut matters, two Bulova timepieces taken on the mission by Scott were also matters of controversy. Before the mission, Scott had been introduced to Bulova's representative, General James McCormack by Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman. Bulova had been seeking to have its timepieces taken on Apollo missions, but after evaluation, NASA had selected Omega watches instead. Scott brought the Bulova timepieces on the mission, without disclosing them to Slayton. During Scott's second EVA, the crystal on his NASA standard issue Omega Speedmaster watch popped off, and, during the third EVA, he used a Bulova watch. The Bulova Chronograph Model #88510/01 that Scott wore on the lunar surface was a prototype, given to him by the Bulova Company, and it is the only privately owned watch to have been worn while walking on the lunar surface. There are images of him wearing this watch, when he saluted the American flag on the Moon, with the Hadley Delta expanse in the background. In 2015, the watch sold for $1.625 million, which makes it the one of most expensive astronaut-owned artifact ever sold at auction and one of the most expensive watches sold at auction.


title: Apollo 15

text: The Apollo 15 mission patch carries Air Force motifs, a nod to the crew's service there, just as the Apollo 12 all-Navy crew's patch had featured a sailing ship. The circular patch features stylized red, white and blue birds flying over Hadley Rille. Immediately behind the birds, a line of craters forms the Roman numeral XV. The Roman numerals were hidden in emphasized outlines of some craters after NASA insisted that the mission number be displayed in Arabic numerals. The artwork is circled in red, with a white band giving the mission and crew names and a blue border. Scott contacted fashion designer Emilio Pucci to design the patch, who came up with the basic idea of the three-bird motif on a square patch.


title: Apollo 15

text: The crew changed the shape to round and the colors from blues and greens to a patriotic red, white and blue. Worden stated that each bird also represented an astronaut, white being his own color (and as Command Module Pilot, uppermost), Scott being the blue bird and Irwin the red. The colors matched Chevrolet Corvettes leased by the astronauts at KSC; a Florida car dealer had, since the time of Project Mercury, been leasing Chevrolets to astronauts for $1 and later selling them to the public. The astronauts were photographed with the cars and the training LRV for the June 11, 1971, edition of "Life" magazine.


title: Apollo 15

text: The halo area of the Apollo 15 landing site, created by the LM's exhaust plume, was observed by a camera aboard the Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE and confirmed by comparative analysis of photographs in May 2008. This corresponds well to photographs taken from the Apollo 15 command module showing a change in surface reflectivity due to the plume, and was the first visible trace of crewed landings on the Moon seen from space since the close of the Apollo program.


title: Shot glass

text: A shot glass is a glass originally designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either imbibed straight from the glass ("a shot") or poured into a cocktail ("a drink"). An alcoholic beverage served in a shot glass and typically consumed quickly, in one gulp, may also be known as a "shooter".


title: Shot glass

text: Shot glasses decorated with a wide variety of toasts, advertisements, humorous pictures, or other decorations and words are popular souvenirs and collectibles, especially as merchandise of a brewery.


title: Shot glass

text: The word "shot", meaning a drink of alcohol, has been used since at least the 17th century, while it is known to have referred specifically to a small drink of spirits in the U.S. since at least the 1920s. The phrase "shot glass" has been in use since at least the 1940s.


title: Shot glass

text: Some of the earliest whiskey glasses in America from the late 1700s to early 1800s were called "whiskey tasters" or "whiskey tumblers" and were hand blown. They are thick, similar to today's shot glasses, but will show a pontil mark or scar on the bottom, or a cupped area on the bottom where the pontil mark was ground and polished off. Some of these glasses even have hand-applied handles and decorations hand crafted using a grinding wheel.


title: Shot glass

text: In the early to mid-1800s, glass blowers began to use molds and several different patterns of "whiskey tasters" in several different colors were being made in molds. These glasses are also thick like today's shot glass but they will have rough pontiled bottoms from being hand blown into the mold. By the 1870s to 1890s as glass making technology improved, the rough pontiled bottoms largely disappeared from glasses and bottles.


title: Shot glass

text: These glasses are for those wary of heavy drinking, or for establishments which want to cheat their patrons into thinking they are being given more than they are in reality. Their bottoms are sturdy and thick, so they give the illusion of a plain shot glass, when in reality they only hold two-thirds as much liquid.


title: Shot glass

text: Pony glasses can only hold about an ounce (30 ml) of fluid each but are normally used while mixing drinks into a larger glass.


title: Shot glass

text: In rounded shot glasses, the walls of the glass curve down leaving a 10 centimetre difference between the lip of the glass and the bottom rim of the glass. They are popular in Europe.


title: Shot glass

text: A jigger, also known as a measure, is a bartending tool used to measure liquor, which is typically then poured into a glass or cocktail shaker.


title: Shot glass

text: The term "jigger" in the sense of a small cup or measure of spirits or wine originates in the U.S. in the early 19th century. Many references from the 1800s describe the "jigger boss" providing jiggers of whiskey to Irish immigrant workers who were digging canals in the U.S. Northeast.


title: Shot glass

text: The style of double-ended jigger common today, made of stainless steel with two unequal sized opposing cones in an hourglass shape, was patented in 1893 by Cornelius Dungan of Chicago. Typically, one cone measures a regulation single shot, and the other some fraction or multiple—with the actual sizes depending on local laws and customs.


title: Shot glass

text: A contemporary jigger measure in the U.S. usually holds , while the jiggers used in the U.K. are typically 25 ml or sometimes 35 ml. Jiggers may also hold other amounts and ratios, and can vary depending on the region and date of manufacture. Many jiggers may also have fractional markings on the inside of the bowl, to facilitate smaller measures of liquid.


title: Shot glass

text: In the U.S. up until Prohibition, a jigger was commonly known to be about half a gill, or , but starting in the latter part of the 20th century, it is typically interpreted to be .


title: Shot glass

text: A shot glass graduated in smaller units such as half-ounces, teaspoons, tablespoons, or millilitres. They are useful for precise measurement of cocktail ingredients, as well as in cooking recipes that call for multiples of a smaller unit (e.g. several teaspoons), allowing the dispensing of the amount in a single measure.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Jacques de Molay (; c. 1240–1250 – 11 or 18 March 1314), also spelled "Molai", was the 23rd and last grand master of the Knights Templar, leading the order sometime before 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1312. Though little is known of his actual life and deeds except for his last years as Grand Master, he is one of the best known Templars.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Jacques de Molay's goal as grand master was to reform the order, and adjust it to the situation in the Holy Land during the waning days of the Crusades. As European support for the Crusades had dwindled, other forces were at work which sought to disband the order and claim the wealth of the Templars as their own. King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Templars, had Molay and many other French Templars arrested in 1307 and tortured into making false confessions. When Molay later retracted his confession, Philip had him burned upon a scaffold on an island in the River Seine in front of Notre-Dame de Paris in March, 1314. Both the sudden end of the centuries-old order of Templars and the dramatic execution of its last leader turned Molay into a legendary figure.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Little is known of his early years, but Jacques de Molay was probably born in Molay, Haute-Saône, in the County of Burgundy, at the time a territory ruled by Otto III as part of the Holy Roman Empire, and in modern times in the area of Franche-Comté, northeastern France. His birth year is not certain, but judging by statements made during the later trials, was probably around 1240–1250.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: He was born, as most Templar knights were, into a family of minor or middle-ranking nobility. It is suggested that he was made a knight at age 21 in 1265 and is known that he was about 70 years of age at the time of his execution in 1314. His year of birth is not known and Alain Demurger finds it probable that he was born in the period 1244/45 to 1248/49 or even between 1240 and 1250.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In 1265, as a young man, he was received into the Order of the Templars in a chapel at the Beaune House, by Humbert de Pairaud, the Visitor of France and England. Another prominent Templar in attendance was Amaury de la Roche, Templar Master of the province of France.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Around 1270, de Molay went to the East (Outremer), although little is recorded of his activities for the next twenty years.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: After the Fall of Acre to the Egyptian Mamluks in 1291, the Franks (a name used in the Levant for Catholic Europeans) who were able to do so retreated to the island of Cyprus. It became the headquarters of the dwindling Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the base of operations for any future military attempts by the Crusaders against the Egyptian Mamluks, who for their part were systematically conquering any last Crusader strongholds on the mainland. Templars in Cyprus included Jacques de Molay and Thibaud Gaudin, their 22nd grand master. During a meeting assembled on the island in the autumn of 1291, Molay spoke of reforming the Order and put himself forward as an alternative to the current grand master. Gaudin died around 1292 and, as there were no other serious contenders for the role at the time, Molay was soon elected.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In spring 1293, he began a tour of the West to try to muster more support for a reconquest of the Holy Land. Developing relationships with European leaders such as Pope Boniface VIII, Edward I of England, James I of Aragon and Charles II of Naples, Molay's immediate goals were to strengthen the defence of Cyprus and rebuild the Templar forces. From his travels, he was able to secure authorization from some monarchs for the export of supplies to Cyprus, but could obtain no firm commitment for a new Crusade. There was talk of merging the Templars with one of the other military orders, the Knights Hospitaller. The grand masters of both orders opposed such a merger, but pressure increased from the Papacy.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: It is known that Molay held two general meetings of his order in southern France, at Montpellier in 1293 and at Arles in 1296, where he tried to make reforms. In the autumn of 1296, Molay was back in Cyprus to defend his Order against the interests of Henry II of Cyprus, which conflict had its roots back in the days of Guillaume de Beaujeu.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: From 1299 to 1303, Molay was engaged in planning and executing a new attack against the Mamluks. The plan was to coordinate actions between the Christian military orders, the King of Cyprus, the nobility of Cyprus, the forces of Cilician Armenia, and a new potential ally, the Mongols of the Ilkhanate (Persia), to oppose the Egyptian Mamluks and take back the coastal city of Tortosa in Syria.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: For generations, there had been communications between the Mongols and Europeans towards the possibility of forging a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Mamluks, but without success. The Mongols had been repeatedly attempting to conquer Syria themselves, each time either being forced back by the Egyptian Mamluks or having to retreat because of a civil war within the Mongol Empire, such as having to defend from attacks from the Mongol Golden Horde to the north. In 1299, the Ilkhanate again attempted to conquer Syria, having some preliminary success against the Mamluks in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in December 1299.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In 1300, Molay and other forces from Cyprus put together a small fleet of sixteen ships which committed raids along the Egyptian and Syrian coasts. The force was commanded by King Henry II of Jerusalem, the king of Cyprus, accompanied by his brother, Amalric, Lord of Tyre, and the heads of the military orders, with the ambassador of the Mongol leader Ghazan also in attendance. The ships left Famagusta on 20 July 1300, and under the leadership of Admiral Baudouin de Picquigny, raided the coasts of Egypt and Syria: Rosetta, Alexandria, Acre, Tortosa and Maraclea, before returning to Cyprus.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The Cypriots then prepared for an attack on Tortosa in late 1300, sending a joint force to a staging area on the island of Ruad, from which raids were launched on the mainland. The intent was to establish a Templar bridgehead to await assistance from Ghazan's Mongols, but the Mongols failed to appear in 1300. The same happened in 1301 and 1302, and the island was finally lost in the Siege of Ruad on 26 September 1302, eliminating the Crusaders' last foothold near the mainland.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Following the loss of Ruad, Molay abandoned the tactic of small advance forces, and instead put his energies into trying to raise support for a new major Crusade, as well as strengthening Templar authority in Cyprus. When a power struggle erupted between King Henry II and his brother Amalric, the Templars supported Amalric, who took the crown and had his brother exiled in 1306. Meanwhile, pressure increased in Europe that the Templars should be merged with the other military orders, perhaps all placed under the authority of one king, and that individual should become the new King of Jerusalem when it was conquered.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In 1305, the newly elected Pope Clement V asked the leaders of the military orders for their opinions concerning a new crusade and the merging of their orders. Molay was asked to write memoranda on each of the issues, which he did during the summer of 1306. Molay was opposed to the merger, believing instead that having separate military orders was a stronger position, as the missions of each order were somewhat different. He was also of the belief that if there were to be a new crusade, it needed to be a large one, as the smaller attempts were not effective.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: On 6 June, the leaders of both the Templars and the Hospitallers were officially asked to come to the Papal offices in Poitiers to discuss these matters, with the date of the meeting scheduled as All Saints Day in 1306, though it later had to be postponed due to the Pope's illness with gastro-enteritis. Molay left Cyprus on 15 October, arriving in France in late 1306 or early 1307; however, the meeting was again delayed until late May due to the Pope's illness.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Templars, was in favor of merging the Orders under his own command, thereby making himself "Rex Bellator", or War King. Molay, however, rejected the idea. Philip was already at odds with the papacy, trying to tax the clergy, and had been attempting to assert his own authority as higher than that of the Pope. For this, one of Clement's predecessors, Pope Boniface VIII, had attempted to have Philip excommunicated, but Philip then had Boniface abducted and charged with heresy. The elderly Boniface was rescued, but then died of shock shortly thereafter. His successor Pope Benedict XI did not last long, dying in less than a year, possibly poisoned via Philip's councillor Guillaume de Nogaret. It took a year to choose the next Pope, the Frenchman Clement V, who was also under strong pressure to bend to Philip's will. Clement moved the Papacy from Italy to Poitiers, France, where Philip continued to assert more dominance over the Papacy and the Templars.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The Grand Master of the Hospitallers, Fulk de Villaret, was also delayed in his travel to France, as he was engaged with a battle at Rhodes. He did not arrive until late summer, so while waiting for his arrival, Molay met the Pope to discuss other matters, one of which was the charges by one or more ousted Templars who had made accusations of impropriety in the Templars' initiation ceremony. Molay had already spoken with the king in Paris on 24 June 1307 about the accusations against his order and was partially reassured. Returning to Poitiers, Molay asked the Pope to set up an inquiry to quickly clear the Order of the rumours and accusations surrounding it, and the Pope convened an inquiry on 24 August.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: There were five initial charges lodged against the Templars. The first was renunciation of and spitting on the cross during initiation into the Order. The second was the stripping of the man to be initiated and the thrice kissing of that man by the preceptor on the navel, posterior and mouth. The third was telling the neophyte (novice) that unnatural lust was lawful and indulged in commonly. The fourth was that the cord worn by the neophyte day and night was consecrated by wrapping it around an idol in the form of a human head with a great beard, and that this idol was adored in all chapters. The fifth was that the priests of the order did not consecrate the host in celebrating Mass. Subsequently, the charges would be increased and would become, according to the procedures, lists of articles 86 to 127[3] in which will be added a few other charges, such as the prohibition to priests who do not belong to the order.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Philip wanted the Templars arrested and their possessions confiscated to incorporate their wealth into the Royal Treasury and to be free of the enormous debt he owed the Templar Order. On 14 September, Philip took advantage of the rumors and inquiry to begin his move against the Templars, sending out a secret order to his agents in all parts of France to implement a mass arrest of all Templars at dawn on 13 October. Molay was in Paris on 12 October, where he was a pallbearer at the funeral of Catherine of Courtenay, wife of Count Charles of Valois, and sister-in-law of King Philip. In a dawn raid on Friday, 13 October 1307, Molay and all the Templars of the central house of Paris were arrested. Philip then had the Templars charged with heresy and many other trumped-up charges, most of which were identical to the charges which had previously been leveled by Philip's agents against Pope Boniface VIII.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Nogaret's captious interrogatories necessarily disconcerted Molai, who, knowing neither law nor theology, was unable to defend himself. During forced interrogation by royal agents at the University of Paris on 24, and 25 October, Molay confessed that the Templar initiation ritual included "denying Christ and trampling on the Cross". He was also forced to write a letter asking every Templar to admit to these acts. Under pressure from Philip IV, Pope Clement V ordered the arrest of all the Templars throughout Christendom.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The pope still wanted to hear Molay's side of the story, and dispatched two cardinals to Paris in December 1307. In front of the cardinals, Molay retracted his earlier confessions. A power struggle ensued between the king and the pope, which was settled in August 1308 when they agreed to split the convictions. Through the papal bull "Faciens misericordiam", the procedure to prosecute the Templars was set out on a duality, whereby one commission would judge individuals of the Order and a different commission would judge the Order as a whole. Pope Clement called for an ecumenical council to meet in Vienne in 1310 to decide the future of the Templars. In the meantime, the Order's dignitaries, among them Molay, were to be judged by the pope.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In the royal palace at Chinon, Molay was again questioned by the cardinals, but this time with royal agents present, and he returned to his forced admissions made in 1307. In November 1309, the Papal Commission for the Kingdom of France began its own hearings, during which Molay again recanted, stating that he did not acknowledge the accusations brought against his order.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Any further opposition by the Templars was effectively broken when Philip used the previously forced confessions to sentence 54 Templars to be burnt at the stake on 10–12 May 1310.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The council which had been called by the Pope for 1310 was delayed for a further two years due to the length of the trials, but was finally convened in 1312. On 22 March 1312, at the Council of Vienne, the Order of the Knights Templar was abolished by papal decree.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Molay was sentenced to death together with Geoffroi de Charney in 1314 as a direct result of cardinal legates' decisions and actions rather than being ordered by King Philip the Fair. He was burned at the stake on the Ile des Javiaux in the Seine. The most probable date of the execution was according to Alain Demurger and others 11 March 1314 although it is also quoted as 18 March 1314.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In September 2001, Barbara Frale found a copy of the Chinon Parchment in the Vatican Secret Archives, a document which explicitly confirms that in 1308 Pope Clement V absolved Jacques de Molay and other leaders of the Order including Geoffroi de Charney and Hugues de Pairaud. She published her findings in the "Journal of Medieval History" in 2004. Another Chinon parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France, well known to historians, stated that absolution had been granted to all those Templars that had confessed to heresy "and restored them to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church".


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The sudden arrest of the Templars, the conflicting stories about confessions, and the dramatic deaths by burning, generated many stories and legends about both the Order, and its last Grand Master.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In France in the 19th century, false stories circulated that Molay had captured Jerusalem in 1300. These rumors are probably related to the fact that the medieval historian the Templar of Tyre wrote about a Mongol general named "Mulay" who occupied Syria and Palestine for a few months in early 1300. The Mongol Mulay and the Templar Molay were entirely different people, but some historians regularly confused the two.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The confusion was enhanced in 1805, when the French playwright and historian François Raynouard made claims that Jerusalem had been captured by the Mongols, with Molay in command of one of the Mongol divisions. ""In 1299, the Grand-Master was with his knights at the recapture of Jerusalem."" This story of wishful thinking was so popular in France that in 1846 a large-scale painting was created by Claude Jacquand, titled "Molay Prend Jerusalem, 1299" ("Molay Takes Jerusalem, 1299"), which depicts the supposed event. Today the painting hangs in the Hall of the Crusades in the French national museum of Versailles.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: In the 1861 edition of the French encyclopedia, the "Nouvelle Biographie Universelle", it even lists Molay as a Mongol commander in its "Molay" article:


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Modern historians, however, state that the truth of the matter is this: There are indeed numerous ancient records of Mongol raids and occupations of Jerusalem (from Western, Armenian, or Arab sources), and in 1300 the Mongols did achieve a brief victory in Syria which caused a Muslim retreat, and allowed the Mongols to launch raids into the Levant as far as Gaza for a period of a few months. During that year, rumors flew through Europe that the Mongols had recaptured Jerusalem and were going to return the city to the Europeans. However, this was only an urban legend, as the only activities that the Mongols had even engaged in were some minor raids through Palestine, which may or may not have even passed through Jerusalem itself. Regardless of what the Mongols may or may not have done, there is no evidence that Molay was ever a Mongol commander, and he probably never set foot in Jerusalem.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: It has been claimed that Jacques de Molay cursed King Philip IV of France and his descendants from his execution pyre. However, the story of the shouted curse appears to be a combination of words by a different Templar, and those of Molay. An eyewitness to the execution stated that Molay had shown no sign of fear and had told those present that God would avenge their deaths. Another variation on this story was told by the contemporary chronicler Ferreto of Vicenza, who applied the idea to a Neapolitan Templar brought before Clement V, whom he denounced for his injustice. Some time later, as he was about to be executed, he appealed "from this your heinous judgement to the living and true God, who is in Heaven", warning the Pope that, within a year and a day, he and Philip IV would be obliged to answer for their crimes in God's presence.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Philip and Clement V both died within a year of Molay's execution; Clement succumbed to a long illness on 20 April 1314, and Philip died due to a stroke while hunting. Then followed the rapid succession of the last Direct Capetian kings of France between 1314 and 1328, the three sons and a grandson of Philip IV. Within fourteen years of the death of Molay, the 300-year-old House of Capet collapsed. This series of events forms the basis of "Les Rois maudits" ("The Accursed Kings"), a series of historical novels written by Maurice Druon between 1955 and 1977, which was also adapted into two French television miniseries in 1972 and 2005.


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The American historian Henry Charles Lea wrote: "Even in distant Germany Philippe's death was spoken of as a retribution for his destruction of the Templars, and Clement was described as shedding tears of remorse on his death-bed for three great crimes, the poisoning of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, and the ruin of the Templars and Beguines".


title: Jacques de Molay

text: Some 400 years after the death of de Molay and the dissolution of the Knights Templar, the fraternal order of Freemasonry began to emerge in northern Europe. The Masons developed an elaborate mythos about their Order, and some claimed heritage from entities in history, ranging from the mystique of the Templars to the builders of Solomon's Temple. The stories of the Templars' secret initiation ceremonies also proved a tempting source for Masonic writers who were creating new works of pseudohistory. As described by modern historian Malcolm Barber in "The New Knighthood": "It was during the 1760s that German masons introduced a specific Templar connection, claiming that the Order, through its occupation of the Temple of Solomon, had been the repository of secret wisdom and magical powers, which Jacques DeMolay had handed down to his successor before his execution and of which the eighteenth-century Freemasons were the direct heirs."


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The modern Masonic "Knights Templar" is an international philanthropic and chivalric order affiliated with Freemasonry, and begun in Ireland perhaps as long ago as 1780. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a Masonic Lodge, which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in the Christian religion. The full title of this Order is "The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta".


title: Jacques de Molay

text: The story of de Molay's brave defiance of his inquisitors has been incorporated in various forms into Masonic lore; most notably in the form of a youth group for young men aged 12 to 21, sponsored by Freemasonry, and named after the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar. DeMolay International, also known as "The Order of DeMolay," was founded in Kansas City in 1919 by Freemason Frank S. Land. Similar to what happens in Freemasonry, new members are ceremoniously initiated using "degrees" that are part of the Order's secret ritual, authored, in the case of the Order of DeMolay's ritual, by Frank A. Marshall at founder Land's request in 1919. The first, and less dramatic, of the two degrees is called "the Initiatory Degree", wherein initiates are escorted around the meeting room and instructed in the precepts and "Seven Cardinal Virtues" of the Order. The second of the two degrees, known as "the DeMolay Degree," which, along with the Initiatory Degree, members and observers are sworn to keep secret, dramatically recreates the trial, "before a Commission in its Council Chamber," of the historic characters named in the ritual as "Jacques DeMolay and his three preceptors, Geoffroi de Charney, Godfrey de Goneville, and Hughes de Peralde." The DeMolay Degree, in which players dress in robes and other period costume, and appear on a dimly-lit stage whereupon they dramatically deliver memorized lines prescribed in the ritual, is described therein as depicting "the tragic climax in the career of Jacques DeMolay, the hero and martyr who is the exemplar of our Order." The stage instructions include that "[t]he foremost point to be remembered is to portray Jacques DeMolay as the hero and to select an interpretation for the DeMolay Degree which will enhance the lessons of fidelity and toleration." The drama concludes with the commission condemning the four to life imprisonment; however, according to the ritual, "so incensed was the king at the noble defiance and defense of DeMolay and Geoffroi de Charney that he overrode the Commission’s verdict and hurried DeMolay and de Charney to the stake on an island near the Cathedral, where they were barbarously burned."


title: Bar Rescue

text: Bar Rescue is an American reality television series that airs on Paramount Network (formerly Spike during the first five seasons). It stars Jon Taffer, a long-time food and beverage industry consultant specializing in nightclubs, bars and pubs. Taffer offers his professional expertise, renovations and equipment to desperately failing bars, in an effort to save them from closing.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The show premiered on what was then known as Spike in the United States on July 17, 2011. In the UK, the show originally aired on 5Star, later moving to Spike (UK).


title: Bar Rescue

text: On September 22, 2020, it was announced that the series would move to another ViacomCBS network, as part of a since-rescinded plan to shift the Paramount Network to television films and miniseries. "Bar Rescue"s move also never took place, as its eighth season premiered on Paramount Network on May 2, 2021. The eighth season focused on Taffer's residence of Las Vegas, a city whose hospitality industry was devastated during the COVID-19 pandemic, then returned with episodes of bars throughout the United States in its traditional format on March 20, 2022.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The series stars Jon Taffer, owner and chairman of bar/nightclub consulting firm Taffer Dynamics, Inc. Taffer is a bar and nightclub owner who has started, flipped, or owned numerous establishments in a career that spans over three decades. Bar owners submit an application via the Paramount Network website to have their failing establishment rescued by Taffer and his team of experts.


title: Bar Rescue

text: A typical episode begins with Taffer's team performing reconnaissance and surveillance on a struggling bar to determine its operational and service weaknesses. For the recon, one or more team members and/or local residents enter the bar, order food and drinks to gauge their quality, and form an opinion of the atmosphere and service. The surveillance involves hidden cameras, preinstalled with the owner's consent, through which Taffer and his team watch the kitchen and customer service areas. He then introduces himself to the owner(s) and staff to discuss his findings, and to describe the changes he believes should be made (management, customer service, cleanliness, etc.) in order to make the bar profitable. He also examines the bar's financial records to find possible cost savings. During these meetings, Taffer exhibits a brusque, no-nonsense, and confrontational attitude intended to goad the owner(s) and staff into making drastic changes to the way the bar is run – including the firing of inept and/or dishonest employees when necessary.


title: Bar Rescue

text: Taffer's team members train the staff on methods of improving food/drink preparation, customer service, and efficiency, frequently concentrating on a more limited selection of recipes than the bar typically offers. After the initial training, Taffer puts the bar through a "stress test" (similar to a soft launch), inviting in a large crowd of patrons in order to determine how well the staff can use their newly learned skills to deal with the pressure of a busy night. He uses market research, technological tools, and partner companies to scientifically measure the bar's performance. After discussing the stress test's results with owners and staff, Taffer meets with his experts to begin devising a new concept for the bar.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The experts put the staff through a second, more extensive phase of training, overhauling the menu to fit the new concept. Once this phase is complete, Taffer closes the bar for a few days so that construction crews can redesign the interior. Deep-cleaning and structural work are performed when necessary. After the overhauled bar (often re-branded with a completely new name or a variation of the old one) is unveiled, Taffer takes the owners and staff on a tour to point out its new features. During the grand re-opening, he observes the overall improvement as a large crowd again packs the bar.


title: Bar Rescue

text: An epilogue segment describes the changes in the bar's success or failure since the re-opening, through a combination of text and interviews with the owners and staff. Bars are not required to keep the changes that Taffer implements, and some have reverted to their original names, concepts, and/or menus since being featured on the show.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The bars featured on the show are already in dire financial and operational situations by the time Taffer intervenes, posing a significant challenge to a turnaround. Despite this, data shows that over half the bars featured, 92 of the first 166 featured through the midway point of season 6, have remained open, with the remaining 74 unable to overcome their challenges. Of the bars featured, Taffer has left three without remodeling (O Face Bar, an intended re-rescue of Second Chance Sports Bar, and Black Light District Rock and Roll Lounge) and one without a grand re-opening (The Dugout).


title: Bar Rescue

text: The series is from "The Biggest Loser" producers J.D. Roth and Todd A. Nelson for 3 Ball Productions/Eyeworks US. Spike announced picking up 10 episodes of "Bar Rescue" in January 2011. The show began shooting in April 2011. It was renewed on September 14, 2011 for a second season in the summer of 2012, from which the first episode of that season aired on July 29. Season 3 of the show premiered on February 10, 2013. On May 9, 2013, Spike TV renewed "Bar Rescue" for a fourth season of 20 more episodes.


title: Bar Rescue

text: On March 21, 2014, Spike TV ordered 20 more episodes of "Bar Rescue". On June 27, Taffer announced on Facebook that he would begin shooting 30 episodes for season 4 after a week-long trip to Paris. The first half premiered on October 5, 2014 while the second half premiered on February 8, 2015. On May 30, 2015, Taffer announced on Facebook that he finished shooting season 4. It was announced that the remaining episodes for season 4 would air beginning Sunday, June 21, 2015.


title: Bar Rescue

text: In May 2015, Taffer announced season 5, with at least 20 episodes, on his Facebook page, with an update from Spike, issued in July 2016, that they had increased the fifth season to a total of 30 episodes. A sixth season was announced with a March 11, 2018 start date.


title: Bar Rescue

text: On May 2, 2019, the series was renewed for a seventh season with 12 episodes. The seventh season's roll-out from March 2020 until June 2020 was a victim of unfortunate timing, starting at the first height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Due to stay-at-home orders throughout the country and takeout food-only non-alcohol restrictions placed on the industry, the majority of the bars featured in the season were unable to take advantage of the post-episode publicity boost usually afforded the featured bars. It also effectively froze the show indefinitely from any future filming or planning for a presumptive eighth season, and the last half of the seventh season was fulfilled with a series of clip shows categorizing certain rescues into themes.


title: Bar Rescue

text: Eventually, the series went back into production for its eighth season with an all-Las Vegas season, due to the impact of the pandemic in Nevada on the region's hospitality industry. On February 9, 2022, Paramount Network announced that the second part of the eighth season would premiere on March 20. On July 10, 2022, Taffer confirmed on Twitter that the ninth and final season was in production.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The bars featured on the show are already in dire financial and operational situations by the time Taffer intervenes, posing a significant challenge to a turnaround. Nearly half the bars featured, 74 of the first 166 featured through the midway point of season 6, were unable to overcome their challenges resulting in the bar closure.


title: Bar Rescue

text: For example, the changes the show made to Downey's Irish Pub, featured in the July 24, 2011, episode "Downey's and Out", were not enough to prevent a planned sheriff's sale on August 2, 2011, due to $2.4 million owed to the city of Philadelphia and Wells Fargo bank, including $125,881 in business-privilege, wage, liquor and other taxes. Breakwall (from the season 1 episode, "Beach Bummer") closed in January 2012. Season 1's Swanky Bubbles, after reverting to its original title, has also closed its doors. The show's first rescued bar of season 2, Piratz Tavern, reverted to its original pirate theme and would later close in April 2015 (see below). The Chicken Bone, Canyon Inn, Angry Ham's Garage, Weber's Place, The Brixton, ZanZbar Stand Up Scottsdale!, and KC's reverted to their original names. The Chicken Bone brought back its previously popular menu, while Angry Ham's replaced unpopular items with previously popular items from its original menu. Season 2's J.A. Murphy's was sold by the owners shortly after the makeover, becoming a Mexican restaurant. Stand Up Scottsdale reverted to its original name due to problems with becoming a franchise of the Laugh Factory.


title: Bar Rescue

text: Rocket Room 6 in Austin, Texas, reverted to its old name, The Brixton, 6 weeks after its relaunch. The owner initially continued his use of social media to insult critics who were documented in the show, although the bar was not closed. He has since toned down his mood.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The Rocky Point Cantina in Tempe, Arizona, closed after a repaint of the bar triggered a code inspection, which uncovered years of modifications to the building that had been completed without building permits. The bar owner opted to close the bar rather than bring his building up to code.


title: Bar Rescue

text: The pirate-themed Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring, Maryland, which had been rebranded Corporate Bar and Grill by Taffer, reversed all of the changes Taffer made to the bar shortly after their episode was filmed. The owner released a YouTube video called "Piratz Revenge", showing the "Corporate" sign created by Taffer's team being shot at and burned in effigy. The video was heavily disliked by YouTube viewers, and garnered a positive rating of only 4%. Taffer said of their decision, "If you had a pirate concept that had failed for five years and had a new concept, would you go back to the concept that failed for five years or try something new? It defies logic that someone would go back to a (failed) concept just because they don't like the new name." The owners blamed the "negative publicity" on the show. Piratz was revisited as part of the April 5, 2015 episode, in which Taffer grades the bar an "epic fail", and the owner sought a second rescue. Within a week of the revisited episode's premiere, however, Piratz decided to close its doors for good. In a "Back to the Bar" episode, the owners made amends with Taffer and announce that they plan to open a new bar, Bar Refuge, within the next year in Florida. They also appeared alongside their daughter in the episode "Getting Freaky at the Tiki" as recon spies for The Tiki Lounge.


title: Bar Rescue

text: Taffer's most expensive rescue also resulted in his biggest failure. His visit to The Los Angeles Brewing Company during season 4 saw him put $1 million into updating the bar, which included the installation of a self-service beer tap and an in-house brewing system, which was intended to allow the bar, which was rebranded as LABrewCo, to start serving its own beer. Four months after the rescue, the brewing system was discovered to have never been used, the self-serve tap was disconnected, and the owner had reverted changes to the bar taps and the menu. In addition, LABrewCo's liquor license had been suspended and the business was put up for sale.


title: Bar Rescue

text: Jon and Nicole Taffer, along with the show's production company Bongo LLC, have been sued by Dr. Paul T. Wilkes from Bar 702 (formerly Sand Dollar). In the episode "Don't Mess with Taffer's Wife", Wilkes is shown to hit on Nicole, and Jon yells at him in retaliation. However, Wilkes stated that the producers ordered him to be sleazy and make offensive comments on women, and texted him to "Hit on Mrs. Taffer hardcore!!" After Wilkes did so, Wilkes states that Taffer called the control room to tell them to have a drink near the spot where he intended to confront Wilkes, so he could throw it in his face, and said to a colleague, "Now I'm going to show you why my show is Number One." According to Wilkes, Taffer came in to confront him and showed him footage of his audition tapes, in which he insulted the way Taffer dressed. Taffer then physically assaulted Wilkes, leading to a scuffle, resulting in a hyperventilating Taffer collapsing onto the floor. Wilkes stated that he suffered from emotional distress and symptoms such as migraines, nausea, vomiting, night terrors, crying spells, severe depression and anxiety attacks as a result of the confrontation. As of August 11, 2017, the case was dismissed with prejudice at the request of Dr. Wilkes after it settled in arbitration for a confidential amount. As a result, the "Don't Mess with Taffer's Wife" episode no longer airs in reruns on Paramount Network or appears on the network's website and apps and also does not appear on ViacomCBS' subscription video streaming service Paramount+.


title: Bar Rescue

text: During the taping for season 3, Taffer visited BoondoxXx BBQ & Juke Joint in Nashville, Tennessee and worked with owner Chris Ferrell, who was noted for having a hot temper. The rescued bar was renamed Pit & Barrel and the episode featuring the bar was to air on November 24, 2013, but on the night before the episode was supposed to air, Ferrell was arrested by Nashville police for shooting and killing country singer Wayne Mills during an argument inside the remodeled Pit & Barrel. Spike immediately pulled the episode from its originally scheduled premiere slot in primetime. However, it failed to remove the episode replay carried three hours later at 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT from its broadcast automation system, thus it still aired. The network drew criticism for the error, in light of the circumstances. Since the accidental airing, the episode has never re-aired, though it has been distributed on file-sharing websites.


title: Bar Rescue

text: Ferrell stood trial for the murder of Mills and asserted he acted in self-defense, claiming that Mills had violated the bar's nonsmoking rule and had threatened to kill him with a broken beer bottle. The jury convicted Ferrell of second-degree murder in March 2015 after a long-delayed trial, and he was given a 20-year sentence without the possibility of parole. The verdict and sentence were appealed, but were upheld by the appeals court in 2019.


title: Bar Rescue

text: After Ferrell's arrest, Pit & Barrel was closed by authorities. The city attempted to sell the bar, but nobody wanted to buy it due to its reputation, and the land in the booming area was more valuable than the business itself. In July 2016, the former bar was demolished and the land paved over to serve as a parking lot for nearby businesses.


title: Bar Rescue

text: In the UK, the show airs on 5*, starting from January 8, 2014. It has since moved to the British Spike Channel since Viacom acquired Channel 5 UK. It's also aired in The Netherlands on Spike.


title: Bar Rescue

text: In Italy, the show is called "Bar da incubo" ("Nightmare Bar"). It is shown daily on Cielo TV and Italy Spike Channel.


title: Density functional theory

text: Density-functional theory (DFT) is a computational quantum mechanical modelling method used in physics, chemistry and materials science to investigate the electronic structure (or nuclear structure) (principally the ground state) of many-body systems, in particular atoms, molecules, and the condensed phases. Using this theory, the properties of a many-electron system can be determined by using functionals, i.e. functions of another function. In the case of DFT, these are functionals of the spatially dependent electron density. DFT is among the most popular and versatile methods available in condensed-matter physics, computational physics, and computational chemistry.


title: Density functional theory

text: DFT has been very popular for calculations in solid-state physics since the 1970s. However, DFT was not considered accurate enough for calculations in quantum chemistry until the 1990s, when the approximations used in the theory were greatly refined to better model the exchange and correlation interactions. Computational costs are relatively low when compared to traditional methods, such as exchange only Hartree–Fock theory and its descendants that include electron correlation. Since, DFT has become an important tool for methods of nuclear spectroscopy such as Mössbauer spectroscopy or perturbed angular correlation, in order to understand the origin of specific electric field gradients in crystals.