Apollo 17, U.S. crewed spaceflight to the Moon, launched on December 7, 1972, and successfully concluded on December 19, 1972. It was the final flight of the Apollo program, and Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last humans to walk on the Moon. Cernan, the mission commander, was a seasoned astronaut, who had orbited Earth on Gemini 9 and the Moon (without landing there) on Apollo 10. Schmitt, the lunar module pilot, held a Ph.D. in geology and was the first scientist-astronaut to set foot on the Moon. The third crew member was Ronald Evans, the command module pilot. Like Cernan, he had been a naval aviator before becoming an astronaut.
The Apollo 17 mission was the first nighttime Apollo launch. Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida had been scheduled for the evening of December 6, 1972, but a technical malfunction resulted in a delay until 12:33 am the following day. The three-stage Saturn V rocket-powered launch vehicle took less than 12 minutes to reach Earth orbit. A few hours later, the command and service module (the spacecraft that would take the astronauts into lunar orbit), separated from the launch vehicle and docked with the lunar module. The last remaining stage of the launch vehicle was then released and set on a course to crash into the Moon. The astronauts’ spacecraft reached lunar orbit on December 10.
Cernan and Schmitt landed the lunar module, named Challenger, on the surface of the Moon on December 11, 2 hours and 34 minutes after separation from the command and service module. They landed in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, a region chosen by mission planners for its geologic interest, notably the proximity of “young” (less than 3-billion-year-old) volcanic areas. A few hours after landing, Cernan stepped out of the lunar module for the first of three periods of extra-vehicular activity (EVA). There were more than 22 hours of EVA in all, during which Cernan and Schmitt traveled 19 miles (30.5 km) in their lunar rover, an electrically powered wheeled vehicle of a type first used in the Apollo 15 mission. They gathered 243.65 pounds (110.52 kg) of rock and soil samples; performed experiments pertaining to lunar gravity, seismic activity, and other subjects; and deployed an “experiment package” that transmitted data back to Earth for several years. Meanwhile, Evans orbited the Moon in the command and service module.
After 75 hours on the surface, Cernan and Schmitt lifted off on December 14 and rejoined Evans a little more than two hours later. Once the astronauts’ equipment and scientific specimens had been unloaded, the lunar module was no longer needed and was therefore allowed to drop to the lunar surface. On December 16 the command and service module left lunar orbit, and the astronauts set course for Earth. On the following day Evans performed several spacewalks to collect photographic equipment from the service module.
The Apollo 17 mission was the first nighttime Apollo launch. Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida had been scheduled for the evening of December 6, 1972, but a technical malfunction resulted in a delay until 12:33 am the following day. The three-stage Saturn V rocket-powered launch vehicle took less than 12 minutes to reach Earth orbit. A few hours later, the command and service module (the spacecraft that would take the astronauts into lunar orbit), separated from the launch vehicle and docked with the lunar module. The last remaining stage of the launch vehicle was then released and set on a course to crash into the Moon. The astronauts’ spacecraft reached lunar orbit on December 10.
Cernan and Schmitt landed the lunar module, named Challenger, on the surface of the Moon on December 11, 2 hours and 34 minutes after separation from the command and service module. They landed in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, a region chosen by mission planners for its geologic interest, notably the proximity of “young” (less than 3-billion-year-old) volcanic areas. A few hours after landing, Cernan stepped out of the lunar module for the first of three periods of extra-vehicular activity (EVA). There were more than 22 hours of EVA in all, during which Cernan and Schmitt traveled 19 miles (30.5 km) in their lunar rover, an electrically powered wheeled vehicle of a type first used in the Apollo 15 mission. They gathered 243.65 pounds (110.52 kg) of rock and soil samples; performed experiments pertaining to lunar gravity, seismic activity, and other subjects; and deployed an “experiment package” that transmitted data back to Earth for several years. Meanwhile, Evans orbited the Moon in the command and service module.
After 75 hours on the surface, Cernan and Schmitt lifted off on December 14 and rejoined Evans a little more than two hours later. Once the astronauts’ equipment and scientific specimens had been unloaded, the lunar module was no longer needed and was therefore allowed to drop to the lunar surface. On December 16 the command and service module left lunar orbit, and the astronauts set course for Earth. On the following day Evans performed several spacewalks to collect photographic equipment from the service module.
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LearningTranscript
00:00 [ Background noise ]
00:19 >> Five, four, three, two, one.
00:25 Ignition sequence has started.
00:27 [ Music ]
00:32 >> Liftoff, we have liftoff.
00:34 [ Music ]
00:43 >> Fido.
00:44 >> Go.
00:45 >> Guidance.
00:46 >> Go.
00:47 >> Control.
00:48 >> Go.
00:49 >> Calcom.
00:50 >> Go.
00:51 >> GNC.
00:52 >> Go.
00:53 >> EECOM.
00:54 >> Go.
00:55 >> That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
01:02 >> In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
01:06 And God said, "Let there be light."
01:09 And there was light.
01:11 [ Background noise ]
01:13 >> Okay, yes sir, we've had a problem here.
01:15 >> Say again, please.
01:16 >> Oh, yes sir, we've had a problem.
01:18 [ Music ]
01:21 >> It's been a long way, but we're here.
01:24 >> Okay, you guys ready?
01:26 Here we go.
01:27 >> It might sound corny, but the view is really out of this world.
01:32 >> I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out
01:39 of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.
01:44 No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind
01:49 or more important for the long-range exploration of space.
01:53 None will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
01:57 [ Music ]
02:14 [ Background noise ]
02:38 [ Alarm blaring ]
02:45 [ Background noise ]
03:07 [ Music ]
03:20 [ Applause ]
03:30 >> Of course, when I was selected for the program, I had very high aspirations of flying a lunar landing.
03:35 But Apollo at that time when Germany was going on, although it was in existence and in work,
03:40 for those of us who were very deeply involved in Germany, it was still quite a step away.
03:46 I used to give a talk now and then to different groups throughout the country and talked about someday we're going to walk on the surface of the moon.
03:54 Not just go there, but walk on the surface of the moon.
03:57 And I believed it, even though I found it hard to believe myself.
04:00 I did believe it because I believed in what I was doing.
04:03 But I turned around one day and I found out, gee, I was one of those guys who was walking in space.
04:07 And with a little luck and God willing, I'll be one of those guys who's going to walk on the surface of the moon.
04:12 And even having done some of this, it's still almost unrealistic to me.
04:17 [ Music ]
04:26 In spite of the fact that I've had a chance to fly a couple of times and I've been close to the moon,
04:29 I haven't made that moon landing, and believe me, it's no easier today than it were in the past.
04:34 And certainly they're not for a crew who's never made that lunar landing before.
04:38 [ Music ]
04:52 I think just like everybody else who's flown, I and all the people who fly with me and after me
04:57 will bring very special experience to the program.
05:00 Experience gathered generally prior to becoming an astronaut and then added to while they have been an astronaut.
05:07 My experience just happens to be in the field of geology and in particular in the observation of materials of the Earth as they exist in the field.
05:17 That's what basically a field geologist does.
05:20 In the case of exploring the far frontiers of space, a geologist has an advantage because that's his livelihood
05:26 and that's what he's been doing most of his life.
05:31 I don't feel that unusual. A lot of people think of it as being unusual, but it's really just another specialty.
05:35 Hopefully we open up with this the possibilities of applying other specialists to other problems.
05:42 [ Music ]
06:01 Apollo 17 is what we call a J-Mission series or it's a follow-on to Apollo 15 and 16
06:06 where we really sort of change the capability of the spacecraft.
06:11 We have more payload on this flight. As a result, we have quite an extensive and heavier scientific package in our spacecraft,
06:19 which of course means it takes longer time to deploy it, to set it up, to get it working.
06:27 With that in mind and to spend additional time on exploring the geological finds we hope will be in Taurus-Littrow, our landing site,
06:35 we hope to spend a little bit longer time on the lunar surface.
06:47 We added a lunar rover to the lunar module so that we could go further distances from the lunar module after we landed,
06:54 get in the areas in terms of geological exploration and exploration of the moon that we couldn't get to before.
07:03 We've been training for about 12 months, maybe slightly longer than that.
07:08 It's hard to remember once you get involved in this thing how long you've been working on it.
07:11 But of course, the training for any spaceflight mission begins several years before that.
07:17 And for me, I guess the concentrated training for spaceflight began with Apollo 15 in the December of 1969.
07:27 [Music]
07:45 This is Apollo Saturn launch control. We're at T-minus one hour, 22 minutes and counting.
07:50 Out at the pad, the space vehicle is surrounded by searchlights producing some 225 foot candles of light.
07:57 At liftoff, approximately 7,500 foot candles will be produced from the flame of the Saturn V engines.
08:03 This is almost equivalent to daylight.
08:06 Our countdown continuing to go smoothly now as we approach the one hour mark.
08:10 This is Kennedy launch control.
08:15 Some people think that because Apollo 17 is the final Apollo lunar landing, that it should be a spectacular of some kind.
08:23 So someone decided that it would be a night launch.
08:25 Well, it is a night launch, but it was not planned that way. It really came out by accident.
08:30 The fact that you pick a landing site, and our landing site is in a relatively remote area of the moon in a northeast corner,
08:37 the launch time of day is really dictated to us.
08:41 Nevertheless, that night launch is going to be very, very exciting, as much so for the people who are watching it
08:46 as the three of us who have the opportunity to fly it.
08:52 This launch will be aiming Apollo 17 for the Taurus-Littrow area of the moon,
08:57 named after the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey and the Austrian astronomer Littrow.
09:03 The site is expected to yield some of the oldest and some of the youngest lunar samples
09:08 returned during the Apollo flight to the moon.
09:18 We have a chance to complete this first phase of lunar exploration
09:23 and last chapters of a lunar history book that Apollo has the capability of writing.
09:32 We won't know it for 50, 100 years, but some of the things that we are finding that were completely unexpected,
09:37 that we didn't plan to find, will almost certainly be the most important things in the eyes of the history of science
09:43 and very probably in the eyes of the history of man.
09:49 This is Apollo Saturn launch control. First stage, second stage, third stage, now all going to internal power.
09:55 The flight of Apollo 17 will be able to be seen some 500 miles away as it goes into Earth orbit.
10:05 For the eyes of the world, now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond.
10:16 And this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space.
10:25 We mean to be a part of it. We mean to lead it.
10:33 Entering the final phases of the countdown, various elements of the team reporting in with their go, no-go's for launch.
10:39 First stage reporting they are go. Range safety, they are go.
10:43 Launch director Walter Caprian has given a go for launch.
10:46 Apollo 17, the launch team wishes you good luck and Godspeed.
10:51 25 seconds and counting, we are still go.
10:57 20 seconds, guidance alert, the guidance system now going internal.
11:02 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, ignition sequence start.
11:18 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Liftoff, we have liftoff.
11:44 And it's lighting up the area, it's just like daylight here at Kennedy Space Center.
11:48 The Saturn V is moving off the pad.
11:54 It is now clear of the tower. There goes the tower.
11:57 Roger the tower, you're going right down the pipe, 17.
12:01 We're in the roll, Bob. Roger, Gino, looking great, thrust good on all five engines.
12:05 Okay, 17 is go. Roger, 17, you're go.
12:13 Stage looks good, altitude 1.1 miles.
12:17 Mark mode one Bravo. Roger, one Bravo.
12:20 Roger, Gene, you're looking great. Right down the line.
12:27 17, Houston, your times are nominal, nominal times.
12:30 Eight plus three, six, and nine plus two, zero. Roger.
12:35 Let me tell you, this night launch is something to behold.
12:41 We're going to experience maximum G-forces of about four Gs at shutdown.
12:46 Stand by for mode one, Charlie, 17.
12:51 Coming up on first stage shutdown.
13:03 17, Houston, you are go for orbit, go for orbit.
13:06 Those are kind words, Robert. We're go for orbit here.
13:12 Good show, babe. A little late, but a good show.
13:15 Not standing right. Sure felt like it.
13:24 We've confirmed Apollo 17 is in a near nominal orbit.
13:28 The translunar injection burn is targeted to last five minutes, 51 seconds,
13:34 accelerating Apollo 17 to the required speed to get it into an orbit that will intercept the moon.
13:49 Gene, you're looking great on a final status check here, and you're go for TLI.
14:10 17, Houston, you're looking good, and the thrust is go.
14:16 Houston reports the thrust looks good on the S-IVB.
14:19 The velocity increasing, up now to 26,000 feet per second, beginning to climb ever more rapidly.
14:26 The burn was initiated at an altitude of about 97 nautical miles above Earth.
14:31 When finished, the spacecraft will be at about 150 miles above Earth
14:35 and on its way to the moon some 213,000 nautical miles away.
15:04 17, Houston, you have a go for T and D.
15:07 Okay, a go for T and D.
15:09 Okay, what are we going to do?
15:14 Okay, we are maneuvering, Houston.
15:16 Ooh, what a beauty. Look at that.
15:22 Damn, that a gas car?
15:24 Yeah, sir.
15:25 That's pretty.
15:27 What a beauty.
15:30 And we got a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver.
15:40 Looks like the Fourth of July out Ron's window.
15:43 Yeah, but we've got the booster and his sheep pretty challenges just sitting in her nest.
15:48 Roger.
15:59 I can't see you too much, Bob, from the center seat other than Captain America is very intent on getting Challenger at the moment.
16:06 Yeah, I'm coming in a little slow, but we've got plenty of time.
16:23 This is now at the controls of America, moving in for the docking with Lunar Module Challenger.
16:33 Let's lock it together.
16:36 Ready.
16:37 She's lined up not bad.
16:39 Okay.
16:41 Prime one.
16:42 Mark it and stand by.
16:43 There she comes.
16:48 Okay, we got it.
16:49 Oh, man, did we?
16:51 Roger.
16:54 This is Apollo Control.
16:56 America and Challenger are on their own at an altitude of 13,000 nautical miles from Earth.
17:12 17 to us, to the crew, is probably best summed up in the meaning of our patch as we designed it and as the ideas that we put into it.
17:21 We felt certainly in Apollo 17, in spite of the fact that it's the last flight in the Apollo program, it's really not the end, but rather the beginning.
17:30 It's sort of a culmination of what we consider man's greatest achievement certainly in our lifetime.
17:36 And looking in the future, these achievements and the potentials of them have literally no bounds.
17:45 We have the god of Apollo on our patch.
17:49 He represents not just the Apollo program, but mankind himself, represents knowledge, represents wisdom.
17:56 And Apollo is looking out into the future.
17:58 He's not looking behind.
18:00 He's simply looking at the moon, someplace that mankind has been, but he's looking on beyond the moon and into the future.
18:09 We have along with him, up in the corner of our patch, a golden moon, sort of representing a golden era of spaceflight that we are bringing to a close now.
18:22 The achievements that have happened in this past decade were not by accident.
18:26 America brought us where we are today, and the United States of America is going to lead us into the achievements and the accomplishments of the future.
18:48 This is Apollo Control.
18:50 Aaron and Schmidt have gone aboard the Lunar Module Challenger, going through the housekeeping transfer of items from the Command Module into the Lunar Module.
19:02 And we'll proceed with the checklist of activating the spacecraft communications system.
19:11 Evans had the detail of removing the probe and drogue earlier, but he's by his lonesome back in the Command Module.
19:27 Gordy doesn't look like I have a chance to go to church today, but under the circumstances, I guess it'll be okay.
19:34 Next time he's a good father, you might have him put a good word in for us.
19:38 Okay, I'll do that.
19:51 Hello, Houston. I've gotten the moon.
19:54 Boy, is it big.
19:56 We're coming in right down on top of it.
19:59 Roger. That's about right. Don't worry. You won't miss it.
20:03 I just want to hear you say it, because I'm going to hold you to it.
20:13 Hello, America. How do you read Houston? Over.
20:15 Hello.
20:17 Houston, this is America. You can breathe easier.
20:19 America has arrived on station for the challenge ahead.
20:37 Challenger, Houston, you have a go for undocking and set.
20:41 Roger. Understand and go for undocking and set.
20:44 Three, two, one.
20:48 We got it.
20:50 There we go.
20:52 Okay, let's get on board.
20:54 Okay, let's get on the ground.
21:01 Now, the landing site of Apollo 17, Taurus-Littrow, is -- and I'm speaking from the guy who's actually going to fly the spacecraft to land it --
21:10 is very, very challenging.
21:13 It's sort of a box canyon surrounded by mountains on three sides and a landslide that comes off one of the mountains that has some rubble
21:20 that is strewn across some of the craters just in front of where we're going to land.
21:24 So, from a pilot point of view, it's very, very challenging.
21:31 Gordo, this is spectacular.
21:34 It is absolutely spectacular looking at that command module, America, down there coming across the surface.
21:39 Sounds great.
21:44 Hey, Ron, listen, this ridge you're coming on over, just stick your head on the hatch and grab a rock.
21:49 Ah-ha!
21:53 We got the landing site. We're coming right over the front of it.
21:57 Super targeting.
21:59 We've got Family Mountain. We've got the course of Maciv.
22:03 We can see the scarf. We can see the light mantle.
22:06 I've got the Great Cross, Camelot, Sherlock.
22:11 Believe it or not, Houston, they're all there.
22:14 Houston, I can even see Poppy right where we're going to set this baby down.
22:19 Very good.
22:21 Man, Gordo, this is absolutely spectacular.
22:27 Sure sounds like it.
22:31 During the next front side pass comes the moment of truth.
22:37 Challenger will descend to the surface of the moon and touchdown at the Taurus-Littrow landing site.
22:43 Okay, all flight controllers, go, now go for power descent.
22:47 Retro. Go.
22:48 Pilo. Go.
22:49 Guidance. Go.
22:50 Control. Go.
22:51 Telcom. Go.
22:52 GNC. Go.
22:53 EECOM. Go.
22:54 Surgeon. Go.
22:55 CAPCOM, we're go for power descent.
22:57 Challenger, Houston, you're go for PDI.
22:59 We are go up here for PDI.
23:01 Master arm on.
23:02 Okay, Houston, master arm is on. I've got two good lights.
23:05 Roger.
23:06 Oh, man, are we down among them, babe?
23:08 Ignition.
23:09 Ignition, Houston.
23:11 Attitude looks good.
23:12 Roger. You're looking good here.
23:14 Okay, Gordo, we're out at 11,009.
23:17 And the computer likes it.
23:18 Standby for pitch over.
23:20 Oh, are we coming in?
23:21 Oh, baby. I'll need the probe.
23:24 I'll give it to you.
23:25 There it is.
23:26 Proceeded.
23:27 And there it is, Houston. There's Camelot.
23:29 Why, that's Target.
23:30 I see it.
23:31 We got them all.
23:32 42 degrees, 37 degrees, 250, 500.
23:35 Challenger, you're go for landing.
23:37 Seal is good.
23:39 We are getting close.
23:41 500. 15 feet per second. 300 feet.
23:45 Going down at 5. Going down at 5.
23:49 Seal's good.
23:51 110 feet. Standby for some dust.
23:55 80 feet.
24:02 Getting a little dust.
24:04 40 feet. Going down at 3.
24:06 Very little dust. Very little dust.
24:09 Standby for touchdown.
24:11 Seal's good.
24:13 20 feet. Standby. 10 feet.
24:17 Contact. Engine stop. Engine arm. Proceed.
24:21 Command override off.
24:22 Command override off.
24:25 Both control, add hold. Kings auto.
24:31 Okay, Houston. The Challenger has landed.
24:34 That's your Challenger. That's super.
24:36 Boy, you bet it is, Gordo.
24:38 Boy, you said shut down. I shut down and we dropped, didn't we?
24:41 Yes, sir. But we is here.
24:44 Man, is we here. How's that look?
24:46 Pressures look great. Manifold right on.
24:48 Ground, I had the meatball all the way.
24:51 Jack, are we going to have some night boulders in this area?
24:53 Okay. The old camera's off.
24:55 Okay.
25:02 Challenger, Houston, I'm going to hand you over to the good Dr. Parker here.
25:05 Have a good trip outside there.
25:07 Gordy, thank you. You do outstanding work and we sure do appreciate it, babe.
25:11 My pleasure.
25:18 I think we're getting to our favorite part here.
25:23 Click, click, click.
25:25 Your helmet is locked. Your visor is locked.
25:29 Oh, man.
25:31 You ready for this?
25:33 I hope so.
25:37 Commander is on the porch.
25:39 Oh, man.
25:41 Oh, man.
25:46 Oh, man.
25:50 I'm on the foot pad.
25:53 And Houston, as I step off at the surface at Taurus-Littrow,
25:58 we'd like to dedicate the first steps of Apollo 17 to all those who made it possible.
26:08 Oh, my golly.
26:10 Unbelievable.
26:12 Unbelievable, but is it bright in the sun?
26:17 How you doing, Jack?
26:19 Fine.
26:21 Jack, you're looking good.
26:23 Beautiful, guys. Beautiful.
26:26 Patch is closed.
26:28 Hey, Jack, don't lock it.
26:29 I'm not going to lock it.
26:30 We got to go back there. You lose the key and we're in trouble.
26:40 Well, I tell you, Gene, I think the next generation ought to accept this as a challenge,
26:46 to see them leap footsteps like these someday.
26:50 A geologist's paradise if I ever saw one.
26:55 I never thought I'd do geology this way.
27:04 The Taurus-Littrow site on the northeastern part of the moon
27:08 at the edge of one of the large lunar basins called Serenitatis
27:12 was selected as representing both a new part of the moon, which we had not explored yet,
27:18 and having major features that would allow us to complete this first phase of lunar exploration
27:25 and last chapters of a lunar history book that Apollo has the capability of writing.
27:31 Those features are the edge of the Serenitatis basin
27:35 where we have a very strong possibility of finding some of the oldest,
27:39 if not the oldest rocks that have so far been sampled and observed on the moon.
27:43 And it also has the dark mantling deposit that is potentially some of the youngest volcanic rocks
27:50 that we've seen on the moon.
27:52 And then, of course, there's this other thing of the unexpected,
27:55 and who knows what that's going to be.
27:57 And that's really what makes it exciting.
28:02 Okay, here we go.
28:05 Challenger's baby is on the roll.
28:08 Okay, I'm going to take a little spin around here.
28:11 Don't run over me. Don't worry.
28:14 [Music]
28:43 The rover's getting tested for what it was built for now.
28:47 Yep.
28:50 I tell you, it handles just the way it's advertised.
28:54 Maybe even better.
28:58 17, we have a picture.
29:00 Oh, beautiful, babe. It's all yours.
29:03 Okay.
29:05 You're going to have to get it down to my level.
29:08 Tall guys are all alike.
29:11 You're pretty agile there, Twinkle Toes.
29:13 You bet your life I am.
29:19 Okay.
29:23 The flag they're deploying is the flag that has been in the Mission Control Center here during past missions.
29:30 Boom-de-dee.
29:32 That's what it looks like. It's waving in a breeze.
29:34 Yes, sir. How about right there?
29:38 It does wave when you do that.
29:40 Yeah, but did you ever see it vibrate like that?
29:43 No, I've never put a flag up in the moon before.
29:45 What?
29:47 We've got a beautiful picture of you guys up down there.
29:50 Let me tell you, Bob, this flag is a beautiful picture.
29:54 That's beautiful.
29:56 This has got to be one of the most proud moments of my life, I guarantee you.
30:00 [Music]
30:27 Well, we're off to see the wizard.
30:31 Hey, do you need me, Gene?
30:33 Nope.
30:34 I'm going to go deploy an ALSEP.
30:36 Have at it.
30:37 First I've got to find an ALSEP site.
30:41 Schmidt carrying the ALSEP about 100 meters east of the LM.
30:52 Cernan will drive out to the ALSEP site in the rover.
31:08 I say there, Jack, that looks like a big rock out there beyond you.
31:15 That's the one we were talking about earlier.
31:18 We believe you now.
31:20 You won't believe it.
31:22 Ah, there goes a fender.
31:25 Oh, shoot.
31:26 Okay, was it the rear fender, Zeno?
31:29 Yeah, I caught it with my hammer and it just popped right off.
31:34 Well, if it wasn't for that fender, I'd be ready to go.
31:37 Makes me sort of mad.
31:40 A little piece of the rail is cracked off, and I'm just going to put a couple pieces of good old-fashioned
31:46 American gray tape on it, see whether we can't make sure it stays, because I don't want to lose it.
31:53 Good old-fashioned American gray tape doesn't stick to lunar dust-covered fenders.
32:00 Gene Cernan taping the fender on.
32:04 I never thought I'd be out here doing this.
32:08 Bob, I am done. If that fender stays on, I'm going to take a picture of it,
32:16 because I'd like some sort of mending award.
32:18 It's not too neat, but, well, let's hope.
32:22 Keep your fingers crossed, and I'll be more careful around the fenders.
32:25 Okay, copy that.
32:29 Site selection in all the missions entails the utilization by NASA of a number of scientific advisory groups
32:36 and the inputs of many individuals across the country, scientists primarily.
32:42 From the scientific point of view, in terms of the instruments that we're going to place on the surface,
32:48 the landing site was picked because it gives us a tremendous network of scientific instrumentation
32:54 that is still active from all the previous Apollo missions.
32:57 Spread across the face of the moon, we can see activity of earthquakes and meteor impacts,
33:01 and it gives us a pretty good cross-section to pinpoint where this activity is and exactly what's happening.
33:11 How's the TV working?
33:13 Beautiful.
33:15 To coin a phrase, it's a panoramic scene of beauty.
33:19 Whoa! Come on now, Bob.
33:21 Say, Bob, what do you think of the terrain?
33:24 Looks flat. Looks very flat and smooth.
33:27 That's why you're an astronomer.
33:30 Oh, well.
33:36 In the moon, we have a window into the very early history of a planet in the near-Earth part of the solar system.
33:44 From 3.3 billion years ago back to, say, 4.6 billion years ago,
33:52 that is a history which is almost totally obscured to us on Earth.
33:56 On the moon, that's where lunar history starts,
33:59 and it's exciting to Earth scientists who have for years been trying to find out
34:03 what happened to the Earth in that very early time
34:06 and an understanding of the processes that really affected the total distribution of materials on the Earth.
34:12 And it's in those materials that lie our resources
34:15 and in the long-term understanding of the Earth so that we can exploit those resources
34:20 and exploit them in obviously a now, I think, a much more enlightened way than maybe we did in the past,
34:24 but nevertheless we must exploit them in order to preserve the civilization we're used to.
34:29 That's reason number one. A little bit involved, but it is probably the primary material justification,
34:35 scientific justification for going to the moon.
34:37 Secondly, and equally important related to the Earth, is an understanding of the history of the sun.
34:42 And within the soils of the moon and within the rocks of the moon, the very surface layers of the moon,
34:48 we are starting to see the effects of solar history on those materials,
34:53 and there is no way we can get this information on the Earth or in orbit around the Earth
34:59 because what we see there is what's happening now.
35:02 What we see on the moon, we can go through the record of the soil
35:05 and see what has happened a hundred million years ago
35:08 and up to probably at least a billion years ago in some places on the moon.
35:12 And if we don't understand the sun and how it affects materials
35:16 and what the history of that sun has been as it has affected our own environment on Earth,
35:21 it's going to be very difficult to understand how to preserve the environment that we now know
35:26 because the sun is still the prime mover, the prime force for change in the environment we have to deal with.
35:32 Bob, I hope I can drill you a couple good holes.
35:42 I know you do too.
35:45 I'll start drilling two eight-foot holes for the heat flow experiment.
35:50 Hey, Bob, it's obvious that I'm going through some pretty tough stuff.
35:54 Yeah, Roger, we're seeing that, you know.
35:57 Looks interesting.
36:00 Yes, sir.
36:03 Really working down there, huh?
36:04 Oh, you betcha, man. I'm in something tough down there now.
36:08 Whoo!
36:09 What bore are you in?
36:12 Number three.
36:13 Oh, ho, ho, ho.
36:15 Where do we find such men?
36:17 If I let go of that drill and I wasn't anchored to the ground, it would throw me over the basif.
36:24 It's funny how for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, isn't it?
36:29 Yeah, I've heard that before.
36:34 Oh, man.
36:35 Yeah, that's what I've been doing.
36:38 Oh, no.
36:41 Come on, baby. Now that I got it.
36:44 Okay, Bob.
36:45 Okay, okay.
36:46 Stay there. Stay there.
36:50 Okay, back.
36:52 Thank you.
36:55 Boy, do you know what you call getting down into your work.
37:00 Bob, I'll save my comments till later.
37:05 Oh, me, oh, my.
37:06 We got three cores, we got the neutron flux down, and we got two heat probes and an outset.
37:13 Bob, I feel pretty good about that. That makes me feel pretty good.
37:17 Okay, congratulations.
37:39 Okay, Bob, we're about 15 meters from a 20-meter blocky rim crater.
37:45 It's about three to four meters deep.
37:50 Okay, I copy that, Jack. Very good.
37:54 He's going slowly, though. Very slowly.
37:57 Try hitting -- there you go.
38:01 Outstanding.
38:08 Okay, read that again.
38:13 The foreground features are somewhat different.
38:15 That's because they were farther up onto the hill, I think.
38:18 But otherwise, that's remarkable.
38:26 If you can hook your -- that's what I'm going to do.
38:28 I'm going to try and get it right -- hit it on the right side.
38:30 It'll go this way, maybe.
38:32 There you go.
38:34 Good man.
38:35 He's right there.
38:36 Try another one.
38:37 Don't lose that one.
38:39 Let me get that one for you.
38:40 I got it.
38:41 You got it?
38:42 Whoops.
38:44 Okay, bag 476 is the rock sample with a little bit of the soil near it of a chip.
38:52 Chip off the rock.
38:54 Be careful down in there.
38:56 And it's the -- watch it, Gene.
39:02 If I go down there, that thing's about 15 feet deep.
39:07 Right.
39:10 There's the other chip.
39:13 Got it.
39:15 Okay.
39:18 Oh, look at the dark minerals in there.
39:19 Are those dark black?
39:21 Yeah, they may be almoni or fresh pierced sea.
39:24 Give me an impression of pierced sea.
39:27 Okay, you want my bag?
39:30 Maybe you better make it clear to Parker that we got the pullout.
39:35 Yeah, it's 29 and a half minutes from now, but remember, they left this side a little bit late.
39:40 Okay, we copy that.
39:42 And 17, a reminder to Factor, do you think this is only a 30-minute stop and it's about two zero minutes remaining?
39:48 Yes, sir.
39:49 But we got a sample, son.
39:51 Okay.
39:54 I think we can't fill this up for Christmas.
39:57 You happy there?
39:58 Yeah, that's good.
40:00 Get your after.
40:01 I'll get my after picture.
40:04 I'm going to take a close-up stereo of that contact.
40:07 Definitely.
40:26 What I really bring as a specialty is the ability, hopefully, of being able to integrate what I see,
40:32 which in turn not only tells me what I should sample or what I should say or what I should photograph about what I see,
40:38 but it will lead me to other observations.
40:40 And this is something you gain by experience, no matter what field you're in,
40:43 field geology, aircraft flying, test piloting, botany, poetry, law, you name it.
40:49 What you gain by experience is the rapid synthesis of what you're exposed to and a projection of that exposure into the next step.
40:56 And so I don't feel myself very unusual being a scientist because we've had specialists before.
41:03 And I'm really a geologist going to the moon, and we've got other types of scientists going on the Skylab program,
41:08 physicists, solar physicists, a medical doctor.
41:11 We're just gradually evolving a phase of the exploration of space where we're now trying to apply specialties to the particular problems we have to deal with.
41:24 [Singing]
41:49 Almost looks like it's getting dark out, isn't it?
41:53 Hope not.
41:56 Or we're in trouble.
41:58 [Music]
42:18 That's a pretty good day's workout, you know.
42:21 You know, I don't think we need an exercise period.
42:27 Man, I hate this dust.
42:30 I've got to make a new fender tonight.
42:32 My tape didn't hold. It was too dusty.
42:35 Oh, man, look at that fender.
42:37 That's terrible.
42:40 Okay, we'll take a look at it here while you're sleeping.
42:44 Get down a little bit more. Have you got another two or three inches?
42:47 I can't get any lower, Willie. My buttons are in the way.
42:50 Okay, keep going. There you are. You're in.
42:53 That's me and the crew of Apollo 17.
42:59 The hatch is closed and locked. Hallelujah.
43:06 You have been stable, Houston. How does it look to you?
43:09 Looks good, Dust 17. And like you know, you had a seven-hour and 12-minute EVA.
43:14 I think it's a tremendous job for what we might call a challenging EVA.
43:19 Bob, that's no pun. It really was. It really was.
43:24 I know it, man. I know it.
43:26 I tell you, I really wish you guys could have been here with us.
43:29 You worked as hard at it as we did, if not harder.
43:32 Harder, I think.
43:36 This is Apollo Control at 124 hours, 23 minutes.
43:40 And aboard Challenger on the lunar surface, Jack Schmidt and Gene Cernan are in the process of getting the lunar module reconfigured,
43:51 ready for their sleep period, which the flight plan calls for them to begin at about three and a half hours from now.
43:57 [Music]
44:04 [Music]
44:29 Good morning, Challenger.
44:33 [Humming]
44:40 How's everything look, Gordy?
44:42 Couldn't look better. How's it look to you?
44:45 Okay, Houston on this fine Tuesday evening.
44:51 As I step out onto the plains of Taurus Littoral, Apollo 17 is ready to go to work.
44:57 Oh, what a nice day.
44:59 It's funny, there's not a cloud in the sky, except in the earth.
45:05 Whee! Okay.
45:08 Challenger, Houston, we've been working while you've been sleeping on a fix for the missing fender.
45:14 John Young's been over working it out in his suit with the mock-up rover.
45:19 Sounds good, Dave. Appreciate it.
45:21 Okay, I'll now turn the microphone over to Captain Young.
45:26 Hey, Gino, this is John.
45:28 Hello, John. How are you doing?
45:30 Oh, just fine. You guys are doing a superb job. Really beautiful.
45:34 Hey, we spent some time on this fender problem and worked out a pretty simple-minded procedure,
45:40 which involves essentially taking four of those lunar surface maps,
45:46 taping them together with gray tape so that you end up with a piece of paper about 15 inches by 10 and a half inches,
45:55 and clamping the edges of it on top of the fender with the AOT lamp clamps.
46:03 It's simple and straightforward, and the beauty of it is you're only spending about two minutes in the clamping operation,
46:11 and it could save you up to about 12, dusting, I think, maybe.
46:16 What do you think?
46:18 Hey, thank you, Dave. We're going to work on it right now.
46:23 Okay, hold it right there. Let me get the --
46:27 Okay.
46:28 Think that'll stop the dust, don't it?
46:30 Well, it'll stop some of it if it stays on.
46:34 The crew is using maps to make that fender.
46:37 The clamps are from the Optical Alignment Telescope lamp.
46:43 As you can see, it's only a paper fender, but the moon is real.
46:49 Hold it right there where I clamp it down.
46:54 Man, that's tight.
46:56 I think that'll stay.
46:57 I think it'll stay.
46:59 Okay, it's --
47:00 The maps are configured.
47:01 Sounds like a good attempt, man. We'll hope it works.
47:04 Does that look good, John, from what he did?
47:08 It looks exactly what he did, he says.
47:11 We've got to take a picture of that fender if it works.
47:13 Wait a minute.
47:15 Gene, you're good as is. We're ready for you guys to go.
47:24 Okay, we are moving right now.
47:26 Okay, we're marking that.
47:30 The crew has started for Station 2, the most distant of the stations, more than 7 kilometers away.
47:46 It's a little rocky out here.
47:47 Yeah, it sure is.
47:49 Okay, the fender fix is working so far.
47:52 I'm averaging probably 10 to 11 clicks. It's not exactly straight line navigation, but I think I can hold most of it.
48:00 Roger. Beautiful.
48:04 The Taurus-Littrow site for Apollo 17 is one where at the mountain front,
48:11 you'll be hearing the names South Massif and North Massif as we explore that part of the moon.
48:16 At these fronts or massifs, there is an excellent probability,
48:20 because of the impact event that formed the Serenitatis Basin,
48:23 we will see rocks that formed the early lunar crust.
48:27 The big emphasis there will be to see these very old rocks that will help push this history book of the moon
48:33 back right up to the very earliest possible time that we can examine on the moon that we know about,
48:39 potentially as old as 4.4 or 5 billion years old.
48:46 Hold it, Jack.
48:47 Oh, watch it.
48:48 Hold it, hold it.
48:49 Go around that one.
48:50 You betcha.
48:53 Woo!
48:54 You're going to wrinkle your toes now.
48:56 Oh, I wouldn't worry, Gene.
48:58 Okay, the surface is not changing in terms of the detail, the surface texture of the fine-grained regolith.
49:05 Most of the brightest craters have a little central pit in the bottom, which is glass lined.
49:13 Look at that crater.
49:15 Woo!
49:16 Oh, mannish of it.
49:17 Woo!
49:18 Boy, I tell you, are those massifs getting to look big now.
49:21 Holy moly.
49:23 Man, this has been a trip.
49:25 Man, I tell you, you know, we're really up on top of this thing.
49:28 You guys have been driving 64 minutes.
49:30 Well, we're almost ready to park.
49:32 Okay, beautiful.
49:34 We're right where we wanted to be for Station 2.
49:38 It looks like a great place.
49:40 They parked.
49:41 Station 2 is right at the base of the south massif.
49:50 Bob, I want to get this camera fixed.
49:52 Okay.
49:54 Any other service I can be?
49:56 Can I change your oil?
49:59 Oh, thank you, Gene.
50:00 That would look much better.
50:04 Man, that's a way to come downhill.
50:06 Just don't stub your toes.
50:08 Man, there's some boulder rolling rocks here, Jack.
50:13 Hey, Gene?
50:14 Yeah?
50:15 Set up right there.
50:16 Let's get that big clast.
50:17 Oh, the clast?
50:18 Yeah.
50:19 Yes, sir.
50:20 Good eye.
50:21 Good eye.
50:22 Big white clast.
50:23 Good eye.
50:24 Gray matrix breccia.
50:25 Good eye.
50:26 Man, that's a prize.
50:27 Bob, you still there?
50:29 Roger, still there.
50:30 Listening with break light.
50:32 Got it back?
50:33 Got it back.
50:34 The soil from right underneath the rock.
50:40 The old boulder rolling trick.
50:43 Don't hit the rover.
50:45 Sweet.
50:47 17, if you want to just take a minute, you might look up in the sky and notice beautiful Mother Earth.
50:53 Hey, there she is.
50:56 Oh, boy.
50:59 There is orange soil.
51:02 It's all over.
51:03 It is.
51:04 I can see it from here.
51:05 It's orange.
51:07 3, 2, 1, mission.
51:10 Right away, Houston.
51:12 Take your final look at the valley at Taurus-Littrell.
51:16 Here man completed his first exploration of the moon.
51:20 May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.
51:28 [Music]
51:33 [Music]
51:37 [Music]
51:41 [Music]
51:45 [Music]
51:49 [Music]
51:53 [Music]
51:57 [Music]