Apollo 17 was the final mission of the United States' Apollo lunar landing program,
and was the sixth landing of humans on the Moon. Launched at 12:33 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of
Commander Eugene Cernan,
Command
Module Pilot Ronald Evans,
and Lunar Module
Pilot Harrison
Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the most recent manned Moon landing and the most
recent crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit. After
Apollo 17, extra Apollo
spacecraft were used in the Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz
Test Project programs.
Apollo 17 was the sixth Apollo lunar landing, the first
night launch of a U.S.
human spaceflight and the final crewed launch of a Saturn V rocket. It was a
"J-type
mission", missions including three-day lunar surface stays,
extended scientific capability, and the third Lunar Roving
Vehicle. While Evans remained in lunar orbit above in the
Command/Service Module, Cernan and Schmitt spent just over three days on the
lunar surface in the Taurus-Littrow
valley, conducting three periods of extra-vehicular
activity, or moonwalks, during which they collected lunar samples
and deployed scientific
instruments. Cernan, Evans, and Schmitt returned to Earth on
December 19 after an approximately 12-day mission.
The decision to land in the Taurus-Littrow valley was made
with the primary objectives for Apollo 17 in mind: to sample lunar highland material
older than the impact that formed Mare Imbrium and
investigating the possibility of relatively young volcanic activity in the
same vicinity. Taurus-Littrow was selected with the prospects of finding
highland material in the valley's north and south walls and the possibility
that several craters in the valley surrounded by dark material could be linked
to volcanic activity.
Apollo 17 also broke several records set by previous
flights, including the longest manned lunar landing flight; the longest total
lunar surface extravehicular activities; the largest lunar sample return, and
the longest time in lunar orbit.
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