Apollo 17 Mission Patch
Apollo 17 Photo Gallery
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Apollo 17 Mission Patch
The Apollo 17 launch lights up the night sky on December 7, 1972. Apollo 17 was
the ninth and last lunar mission (the sixth landing overall) and the first night
launch. Onboard was Eugene A. Cernan, Commander; Ronald E. Evans Command Module
Pilot; and Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot and the first geologist to go
to the moon.
The Apollo 17 Lunar Module, Challenger (LM-12), is surrounded by paint chips as
the Command Module, America, moves in to dock and extract Challenger from the
Saturn V third stage. This photograph was taken after Apollo 17 burned out of
earth orbit and began its translunar journey.
Astronaut Eugene Cernan tests the Lunar Rover (LRV-3) after landing in the
Taurus-Littrow highlands and valley area on December 11, 1972. The Lunar Module,
Challenger and the South Massif mountain are in the background.
Astronaut Eugene Cernan is shown saluting the flag at Taurus-Littrow, with
Challenger, the Lunar Rover and mountains in the background. Note the red strips
on Cernan's spacesuit; this was to differentiate in photographs the commander
from the lunar module pilot.
This photo of the Taurus-Littrow landing site shows geologist-astronaut Harrison
Schmitt (center) setting up an experiment, with the lunar module, Challenger
(left) and lunar rover (right) in the foreground. The South and North Massifs
are in the background. The astronauts stayed on the moon for four days,
conducted three EVAs (extravehicular activities) and traveled 30.5 km (19 miles)
on the lunar rover.
After lifting off from the moon on December 14, 1972, the ascent stage of
Challenger does a maneuver in lunar orbit just before docking with the command
module, America, piloted by Ronald Evans. After burning out of lunar orbit and
enroute back to earth, Evans performed a one-hour spacewalk to retrieve the
lunar sounder film and the panoramic and mapping camera film cassettes from the
Service Module Equipment bay. Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on
December 19, 1972.