Apollo 17 (1972): Final Apollo Lunar Mission and Field Science

1. Apollo 17 designated final Apollo landing mission

   Jan 1, 1972Labels: Apollo 17, NASA

   • Apollo Project
   • NASA Details

2. Apollo 17 launches in a rare night liftoff

   Dec 7, 1972Labels: Launch Complex, Crew Cernan

   • NASA Details
   • Planetary Soc

3. Spacecraft heads toward the Moon after translunar injection

   Dec 7, 1972Labels: Translunar Injection, CSM

   • NASA Details

4. Apollo 17 enters lunar orbit and prepares for landing

   Dec 10, 1972Labels: Lunar Orbit, Taurus Littrow

   • NASA Details
   • USGS Taurus

5. LM Challenger lands in Taurus–Littrow Valley

   Dec 11, 1972Labels: LM Challenger, CSM America

   • NASA Details
   • NASA 50Yrs

6. First EVA begins; surface science operations start

   Dec 12, 1972Labels: EVA 1, Astronauts Cernan

   • NASA Details

7. ALSEP station deployed for long-term lunar measurements

   Dec 12, 1972Labels: ALSEP, Surface Experiments

   • NASA 50Yrs
   • Mission Report

8. Orange volcanic glass soil discovered at Shorty Crater

   Dec 12, 1972Labels: Shorty Crater, Orange Soil

   • NSSDC Caption
   • USGS Orange

9. Third EVA completes major traverses and sample collection

   Dec 14, 1972Labels: EVA 3, Sample Collection

   • NASA Details
   • USGS Taurus

10. Challenger lifts off, ending the last Apollo surface stay

    Dec 14, 1972Labels: LM Ascent, Taurus Littrow

    • NASA Details
    • Smithsonian

11. Evans performs deep-space EVA to retrieve film cassettes

    Dec 17, 1972Labels: Deep-space EVA, Ronald Evans

    • NASA EVA
    • NASA Details

12. Apollo 17 splashes down, closing the Apollo lunar landings

    Dec 19, 1972Labels: Splashdown, Command Module

    • NASA Splashdown
    • NASA Details