Apollo 17

It was 33 years ago today that the Apollo 17 lunar module Challenger, piloted by mission commander Gene Cernan made the final lunar landing of the Apollo program. Challenger carried the first professional Geologist, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt to the surface of the Moon. Four hours after landing, Cernan and Schmitt climbed out of the LM to begin the first of 3 EVAs (ExtraVehicular Activity) outside their temporary home on the Moon.

I remember watching the mission with great interest, having the guidebook "On the Moon with Apollo 17" in hand and ready to watch the 7 hours of each of the 3 planned EVAs. Unfortunately, the TV networks did not carry the EVAs - walking on the Moon had become an event not worth full coverage. Challenger landed in the "Taurus-Littrow Valley", a mare like plain between massive mountains on the southwest margin of Mare Serenitatis. The site was chosen in part because of observations by the Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden. He had observed dark halo craters in the valley during his flight which suggested the possibility of lunar volcanic activity. As it would turn out, the dark halo craters were simply impact craters which excavated a darker subsurface material laid down billions of years ago when the basin originally formed.

Apollo 17 set records for distance traveled on the Moon (thanks to the Lunar Roving Vehicle), weight of samples returned, EVA duration and lunar stay time. It's hard to believe it's been 33 years. I remember then thinking about Man's future in space that I would be too young to be the first person to set foot on Mars - the first Manned Mars landing was projected for 1986! We went so far in the 1960s and early 1970s. We are just now talking about taking longer strides and going back to the surface of the Moon and on to Mars.