Shortly thereafter, the two astronauts began re-configuring the LM for their stay on the surface and began preparations for the first moonwalk of the mission, or EVA-1.The first lunar excursion began four hours after landing, at 6:54 p.m. EST on December 11. Relive every moment as it occurred in 1972. The first task was to offload the rover and other equipment from the LM. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.The Apollo 17 mission was the first nighttime Apollo launch. The SIM bay housed three experiments for use in lunar orbit: a lunar sounder, an The infrared scanning radiometer was designed with the objective of generating a temperature map of the lunar surface to aid in locating surface features such as rock fields, structural differences in the The far-ultraviolet spectrometer was to be used to obtain data pertaining to the composition, density, and constituency of the The laser altimeter was designed with the intention of measuring the altitude of the spacecraft above the lunar surface within approximately two meters (6.6 feet), and providing altitude information to the panoramic and mapping cameras.Throughout the Apollo lunar missions, the crew members observed light flashes that penetrated closed eyelids. The image of Apollo in the mission insignia is a rendering of the Like Apollo 15 and Apollo 16, Apollo 17 was slated to be a "After the elimination of several sites, three sites made the final consideration for Apollo 17: The Taurus-Littrow site was selected with the prediction that the crew would be able to obtain samples of old highland material from the remnants of a landslide event that occurred on the south wall of the valley and the possibility of relatively young, explosive volcanic activity in the area.
A real-time interactive journey through the Apollo 17 mission. After a successful rendezvous and docking with Ron Evans in the CSM in orbit, the crew transferred equipment and lunar samples between the LM and the CSM for return to Earth.
The Apollo 17 spacecraft Apollo 17 was the third mission (the others being Apollo 15 and Apollo 16) to make use of a Apollo 17 included a biological cosmic ray experiment (BIOCORE), carrying Officially, the mice—four male and one female—were assigned the identification numbers A3326, A3400, A3305, A3356 and A3352.
Several minutes after the descent phase was initiated, the LM pitched over, giving the crew their first look at the landing site during the descent phase and allowing Cernan to guide the spacecraft to a desirable landing target while Schmitt provided data from the flight computer essential for landing. History at your fingertips
The launch was visible as far away as 800 km (500 mi); observers in Soon after completing their preparations for landing, Cernan and Schmitt began their descent to the Taurus-Littrow valley on the lunar surface. Stopping at station 6, they examined a house-sized split boulder dubbed Cernan then followed Schmitt into the LM; the final lunar excursion had a duration of seven hours and fifteen minutes.Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt successfully lifted off from the lunar surface in the ascent stage of the LM on December 14, at 5:55 pm EST. A similar incident occurred on Apollo 16 as The third moonwalk, the last of the Apollo program, began at 5:25 pm EST on December 13.
The ascent stage was then deliberately crashed into the Moon in a collision recorded by During the return to Earth, Evans performed a 65-minute EVA to retrieve film cassettes from the service module's scientific instrument module (SIM) bay, with assistance from Schmitt who remained at the command module's hatch.On December 19, the crew jettisoned the no-longer-needed SM, leaving only the CM for return to Earth.