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Apollo 17 |
| Apollo 17 | |||||
Mission insignia |
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| Mission statistics[1] | |||||
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| Mission name | Apollo 17 | ||||
| Command Module | CM-114 callsign America mass 30,369 kg |
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| Service Module | SM-114 | ||||
| Lunar Module | LM-12 callsign Challenger mass 16,456 kg |
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| Crew size | 3 | ||||
| Call sign | Command module: America Lunar module: Challenger |
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| Booster | Saturn V SA-512 | ||||
| Launch pad | LC 39A Kennedy Space Center Florida, USA |
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| Launch date | December 7, 1972 05:33:00 UTC |
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| Lunar landing December 11, 1972 02:23:35 UTC Taurus-Littrow 20° 11' 26.88" N 30° 46' 18.05" E (based on the IAU Mean Earth Polar Axis coordinate system) |
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| Lunar EVA duration | First 07:11:53 Second 07:36:56 Third 07:15:08 Total 22:03:57 |
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| Lunar surface time | 3 d 02 h 59 m 40s | ||||
| Lunar Roving Vehicle | LRV-3 | ||||
| CMP EVA duration | 01:05:44 | ||||
| Lunar sample mass | 110.52 kg (243.65 lb) | ||||
| Time in lunar orbit | 6 d 03 h 43 m 37 s | ||||
| Landing | December 19, 1972 19:24:59 UTC |
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| Mission duration | 12 d 13 h 51 m 59 s | ||||
Crew photo
Left to right: Schmitt, Cernan (seated), Evans
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Apollo 17 was the eleventh manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program. It was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the sixth and final lunar landing mission of the Apollo program. The mission was launched on December 7, 1972, and concluded on December 19. As of 2008, it remains the most recent manned Moon landing.[2]
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Number in brackets indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
Joe Engle was the originally selected as the LMP, but once it became clear that Apollo 17 would be the last lunar flight, the scientific community pressed NASA to select a scientist-astronaut to land on the Moon. This led to Schmitt, a trained geologist, being removed from the crew of the now cancelled Apollo 18 and replacing Engle on 17.
20° 11' 26.88" N - 30.1° 46' 18.05" E
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 mi) from the recovery ship USS Ticonderoga. Apollo 17 landed approximately 640 meters from its target point.
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2007) |
One of the last two men to set foot on the Moon was also the first scientist-astronaut, geologist Harrison ("Jack") Schmitt. While Evans circled in America, Schmitt and Cernan collected a record 109 kg (240 pounds) of rocks during three Moonwalks. The crew roamed for 34 km (21 miles) 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 program.
Crew members were Eugene Cernan, commander; Ron Evans, command module pilot; and Harrison Schmitt, lunar module pilot.
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.
A J-class mission, featuring the Lunar Rover, they conducted three lunar surface excursions, lasting 7.2, 7.6 and 7.3 hours. The mission returned 110.5 kg (243.6 lb) of samples from the Moon.
The Command module is currently on display at NASA's Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas. The lunar module impacted the Moon on December 15, 1972 at 06:50:20.8 UT (1:50 AM EST) at 19.96 N, 30.50 E.
On this mission the astronauts took a famous photograph of the earth known as "The Blue Marble".
"Ah! You see one Earth, you've seen them all."
"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."
"Okay, Jack. Let's get this mother outta here."
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 Apollo of 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.
The Command Module America is currently on display at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas.
The Lunar Module Challenger impacted the Moon 15 December 1972 at 06:50:20.8 UT (1:50 AM EST) 19.96 N, 30.50 E.
 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 |
Portions of the Apollo 17 mission are dramatized in the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode entitled "Le Voyage dans la Lune".
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 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".
In WALL-E, the main characters flying away from Earth pass the Moon and the landing site of Apollo 17 (or perhaps one of the other "J" missions: Apollo 15 and 16). Behind the landing site one sees a large sign on the lunar surface exclaiming the future site of a shopping mall.
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