Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7 1972 with a crew 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 manned flight beyond low Earth orbit.

Apollo 17 was the sixth Apollo lunar landing the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the final manned launch of a Saturn V booster. It was a "J-type mission" missions including three-day lunar surface stays extended scientific capability and the Lunar Roving Vehicle. While Evans remained in lunar orbit above in the Command/Service Module Cernan and Schmitt spent just more than three days on the lunar surface in the Taurus-Littrow valley performing three EVAs 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.

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. Contents 1 Crew 1.1 Backup crew 1.1.1 Original 1.1.2 Replacement 1.2 Support crew 2 Mission parameters 2.1 Docking 2.2 EVAs 3 Mission highlights 3.1 Liftoff 3.2 Transit 3.3 Landing 3.4 EVAs 3.5 Return 3.6 Splashdown 4 Mission insignia 5 Spacecraft locations 6 Media 7 Depiction in fiction 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links Crew Position Astronaut Commander Eugene A. Cernan Third spaceflight Command Module Pilot Ronald E. Evans First spaceflight Lunar Module Pilot Harrison H. Schmitt First spaceflight

Former X-15 pilot Joe Engle had trained extensively with Cernan and Evans for lunar exploration as the backup LMP on Apollo 14. This came with the expectation that the entire crew would rotate up to prime crew for Apollo 17 but once it became clear that this would be the last lunar flight the scientific community pressed NASA to select a scientist-astronaut to land on the Moon. Being directed by NASA officials to assign the scientist-astronaut Deke Slayton Director of Flight Crew Operations responsible for crew assignments presented Cernan with the choice of replacing Engle with geologist Harrison Schmitt on his crew otherwise Slayton would assign Apollo 17 to Dick Gordon's entire crew to include Schmitt (backup crew for Apollo 15) from the now-cancelled Apollo 18. Cernan opted to fly with Schmitt. Backup crew Original Position Astronaut Commander David Scott Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin This had been the Apollo 15 prime crew. Replacement Position Astronaut Commander John Young Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke

The Apollo 15 prime crew received the backup assignment since this was to be the last lunar mission and the backup crew would not rotate to another mission. However when the Apollo 15 postage stamp incident became public in early 1972 the crew was reprimanded by NASA and the Air Force (they were active duty officers). Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton removed them from flight status and replaced them with Young and Duke from the Apollo 16 prime crew and Roosa from the Apollo 14 prime and Apollo 16 backup crews.2 Young Roosa and Duke were announced as backups on 23 May 1972 and began their formal training on 1 July. Support crew Robert F. Overmyer Robert A. Parker C. Gordon Fullerton Mission parameters Apollo 17 launches from Kennedy Space Center December 7 1972. The Apollo 17 Saturn V awaits launch. Mass: Launch mass: 6455000 lb (2928000 kg) Total spacecraft: 102900 lb (46700 kg) CSM mass: 66840 lb (30320 kg) of which CM was 13140 lb (5960 kg) SM 53700 lb (24400 kg) LM mass: transposition and docking stage 36274 lb (16454 kg) separation for lunar landing 36771 lb (16679 kg) ascent stage at liftoff 10997 lb (4988 kg) Earth orbits: 2 before leaving for Moon approximately one on return Lunar orbits: 75 Perigee: 104.9 mi (168.8 km) Apogee: 106.4 mi (171.2 km) Inclination: 28.526 Period: 87.83 min Landing site as imaged in 2009 Periselenium: 60.5 mi (97.4 km) Aposelenium: 195.6 mi (314.8 km) Inclination: 159.9 Period: 120 min Landing Site: 20.19080 N - 30.77168 E or

20 11' 26.88" N - 30.1 46' 18.05" E Docking Undocked: December 11 1972 - 17:20:56 UTC Docked: December 15 1972 - 01:10:15 UTC EVAs Cernan and Schmitt - EVA 1 EVA 1 Start: December 11 1972 23:54:49 UTC EVA 1 End: December 12 07:06:42 UTC Duration: 7 hours 11 minutes 53 seconds Cernan and Schmitt - EVA 2 EVA 2 Start: December 12 1972 23:28:06 UTC EVA 2 End: December 13 07:05:02 UTC Duration: 7 hours 36 minutes 56 seconds Cernan and Schmitt - EVA 3 EVA 3 Start: December 13 1972 22:25:48 UTC EVA 3 End: December 14 05:40:56 UTC Duration: 7 hours 15 minutes 08 seconds Evans (Schmitt - Stand up) - Transearth EVA 4 EVA 4 Start: December 17 1972 20:27:40 UTC EVA 4 End: December 17 21:33:24 UTC Duration: 1 hour 05 minutes 44 seconds

The splashdown point was 17 52 S 166 7 W 350 nautical miles (650 km) SE of the Samoan Islands and 6.5 km (4.0 mi) from the recovery ship USS Ticonderoga. Apollo 17 landed approximately 640 meters from its target point. Mission highlights This section requires expansion. Liftoff

Apollo 17 liftoff was on December 7 1972 at 05:33:00 UTC (12:33:00 a.m. EST) and was the only nighttime launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Transit Schmitt took this picture of Cernan flanked by an American flag and their lunar rover's umbrella-shaped high-gain antenna near the beginning of their third and final excursion across the lunar surface. The prominent Sculptured Hills lie in the background while Schmitt's reflection can just be made out in Cernan's helmet. Close-up of the orange soil discovered at Shorty crater the result of volcanic glass beads.

During the transit to the Moon the astronauts took a famous photograph of the earth known as "The Blue Marble" which shows almost the entire continent of Africa and the continent of Antarctica. The other lunar landing missions that photographed the earth shortly after lunar orbit insertion showed the western hemisphere. Landing The landing site for this mission was on the southeastern rim of the Mare Serenitatis in the southwestern Montes Taurus. This was a dark mantle between three high steep massifs in an area known as the Taurus-Littrow region. Pre-mission photographs showed boulders deposited along the bases of the mountains which could provide bedrock samples. The area also contained a landslide several impact craters and some dark craters which could be volcanic. EVAs Apollo 17 was a J-class mission. The crew used a Lunar Rover and conducted three lunar surface excursions lasting 7.2 7.6 and 7.3 hours. The mission returned 110.5 lb (50.1 kg) of samples from the Moon. Schmitt and Cernan collected a record 109 lb (49 kg) of rocks during three Moonwalks. The crew roamed for 34 km (21 mi) through the Taurus-Littrow valley in their rover discovered orange-colored soil and left the most comprehensive set of instruments in the ALSEP on the lunar surface. Their mission was the last in the Apollo lunar landing missions. The last 4 Apollo craft were used for the three Skylab missions and the ASTP mission in 1975. Return Command Module pilot Ron Evans performs a trans-earth EVA to retrieve film from the Apollo 17 SIM Bay camera Eugene Cernan is to date the last man to have walked on the Moon. Just before he returned to the Lunar Module for the last time he said As I take man's last step from the surface back home for some time to come but we believe not too long into the future I'd like to just say what I believe history will record that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow we leave as we came and God willing as we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17. Although Cernan's last words before liftoff have been widely quoted as the colorful "Let's get this mother out of here" this is not supported by the transcript and audio recordings of the LM crew voices.3 A plaque left on the ladder of the descent stage of Challenger reads: Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon December 1972 A.D. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind. The plaque shows two hemispheres of Earth and the near side of the Moon and bears the signatures of Cernan Evans Schmitt and President Richard M. Nixon. Splashdown Apollo 17 recovery operations The command module America splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near American Samoa at 19:24:59 UTC on December 19 1972. The recovery operation was performed by US Navy helicopter squadron HC-1 with Commander Edward E Dahill III as prime recovery pilot flying helicopter 001. Commander Dahill flew the astronauts to the nearby recovery ship USS Ticonderoga. They were subsequently flown from the recovery ship to Pago Pago International Airport in Tafuna where they were greeted with a Samoan reception before being flown on to Honolulu then on to Houston. Commander Eugene Cernan had taken a Czechoslovak flag with him to the Moon because his ancestors came from Czechoslovakia. Later he gave it to the Institute of Astronomy in Ondejov (now Czech Republic). Mission insignia Robbins Medallion from Apollo 17 The circular patch is one of the most detailed of the Apollo series. The official NASA press release said: "The insignia is dominated by the image of Apollo the Greek sun god. Suspended in space behind the head of Apollo is an American eagle of contemporary design the red bars of the eagle's wing represent the bars in the U.S. flag; the three white stars symbolize the three astronaut crewmen. The background is deep blue space and within it are the Moon the planet Saturn and a spiral galaxy or nebula. The Moon is partially overlaid by the eagle's wing suggesting that this is a celestial body that man has visited and in that sense conquered. The thrust of the eagle and the gaze of Apollo to the right and toward Saturn and the galaxy is meant to imply that man's goals in space will someday include the planets and perhaps the stars. The colors of the emblem are red white and blue the colors of the U.S. flag; with the addition of gold to symbolize the golden age of space flight that will begin with this Apollo 17 lunar landing. The Apollo image used in this emblem was the profile of the Apollo Belvedere sculpture now in the Vatican Gallery in Rome. This emblem was designed by artist Robert T. McCall in collaboration with the astronauts." The insignia is surrounded by a light gray band with names of the crew and the words APOLLO XVII. Spacecraft locations The command module America is currently on display at Space Center Houston in Houston Texas. The ascent stage of lunar module Challenger impacted the Moon December 15 1972 at 06:50:20.8 UT (1:50 AM EST) at 195736N 30300E / 19.96N 30.5E / 19.96; 30.5 (Apollo 17 LM ascent stage). The descent stage remains on the Moon at the landing site 201126.88N 304618.05E / 20.1908N 30.7716806E / 20.1908; 30.7716806 (Apollo 17 LM descent stage). Media Astronaut Harrison Schmitt falls while on a Moonwalk. Harrison Schmitt sings I was strolling on the Moon one day. Apollo 17's Lunar Module blasts off and leaves the Moon. Schmitt stands next to a large boulder during EVA 3. The plaque left on the Moon by Apollo 17. Apollo 17 photo of the Earth as the spacecraft headed for the Moon (now known as "The Blue Marble photo"). A model of the UV spectrometer used to take the first accurate measurements of the constituents of the Moon's atmosphere. Harrison Schmitt posed with the American flag and Earth in the background during Apollo 17's first EVA. Eugene Cernan is visible reflected in Schmitt's helmet visor. Depiction in fiction Portions of the Apollo 17 mission are dramatized in the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode entitled "Le Voyage dans la Lune". In "Le Voyage dans La Lune" Co-Executive Producer Tom Hanks gave Commander Gene Cernan a moment that he desperately wished for in real life. The episode shows Cernan carving the initials of his then 9-year-old daughter Tracey in the lunar dust. It was something Cernan had actually intended to do during the moon walk. However the relentless pressure of the EVA Timeline actually prevented him from doing. (Based on a Cernan interview with reporter Dan Fiorucci in a 1999 interview conducted via satellite for a story that aired on WPHL-TV Philadelphia) The novel Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston opens with a depiction of the Apollo 17 Moonwalks using quotes taken from the official mission transcript. Additionally there have been fictional astronauts in film literature and television who have been described as "the last man to walk on the Moon" implying they were crew members on Apollo 17. One such character was Steve Austin in the television series The Six Million Dollar Man. In the 1972 novel Cyborg upon which the series was based Austin remembers watching the Earth "fall away during Apollo XVII."4 In an episode of the series Austin clearly states that he flew on "Apollo 17". Another example is the character of Captain Tanner played by Robert Duvall in the science fiction film Deep Impact. The mission patch for Apollo 17 was used for the mission patch for the NASA space ship Charybdis in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "The Royale". See also Spaceflight portal Extra-vehicular activity Google Moon List of artificial objects on the Moon List of spacewalks Splashdown Notes Richard W. Orloff. "Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (SP-4029)". NASA. http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo00gTableofContents.htm.  Donald K. Slayton "Deke!" (New York: Forge 1994) 279 "Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal". http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.html. Retrieved November 18 2009.  Caidin Martin: Cyborg page 15. Warner Paperback Library 1972. References NASA NSSDC Master Catalog Apollo 17 Info by NASA Apollo by the numbers: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff (NASA) Development of Manned Space Flight American and Soviet NASA SP-4209 The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology Apollo Program Summary Report Apollo 17 Characteristics - SP-4012 NASA historical data book Apollo 17 entry at Apollo Lunar Surface Journal - Provides an extensive insight of the mission along with full transcripts and detailed interviews with the crewmembers. Lattimer Dick (1985). All We Did was Fly to the Moon. Whispering Eagle Press. ISBN 0-9611228-0-3. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Apollo 17 NASA Apollo 17 press kit - Nov 26 1972 Apollo 17 - entry in Encyclopedia Astronautica Apollo 17 - Final Reflections on Apollo Video as the crew wraps up the final Apollo mission Apollo 17 - Science Experiments Apollo 17 - Voice Transcript Pertaining to the Geology of the Landing Site Apollo landing Locations at Google Moon Apollo 17 Campsite - Microsoft Photosynth Apollo Lunar Surface VR Panoramas QTVR panoramas Apollo simulation for Orbiter spaceflight sim September 1973 National Geographic Magazine article Transcript of lifting off from the Moon Apollo 17 television transmissions ApolloTV.net Video v d eMissions of the Apollo program Rocket tests SA-1  SA-2  SA-3  SA-4  SA-5  AS-203 Abort tests QTV  Pad Abort Test-1  A-001  A-002  A-003  Pad Abort Test-2  A-004 Boilerplate tests A-101  A-102  A-103  A-104  A-105 Unmanned missions AS-201  AS-202  Apollo 4  Apollo 5  Apollo 6  Skylab 1 Low Earth orbit missions Apollo 7  Apollo 9  Skylab 2  Skylab 3  Skylab 4  Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Lunar orbit missions Apollo 8  Apollo 10 Lunar landing missions Apollo 11  Apollo 12  Apollo 14  Apollo 15  Apollo 16  Apollo 17 Failed missions Apollo 1 (AS-204)  Apollo 13 List of missions  Mission Types  Canceled missions