Apollo Program · Sixth and final crewed lunar landing

Apollo 17

Lunar landing

Launch: 1972-12-07 05:33 UTC
Return: 1972-12-19 19:25 UTC
Duration: 12 days 13 hours 52 minutes

Mission summary

Apollo 17 was the sixth and final crewed lunar landing, and the longest. Cernan and Schmitt landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley — chosen so a single landing site could yield both old highlands material and younger mare basalts — and conducted three EVAs totaling 22 hours, the longest cumulative surface time of any Apollo mission. Schmitt, the only professional geologist to walk on the Moon, discovered orange volcanic glass at Shorty Crater that revealed explosive volcanism in the Moon's distant past. Cernan's final step into Challenger before liftoff made him the last person to walk on the Moon to date. The May 2026 PURSUE disclosures surfaced an in-mission UAP-flash observation by the Apollo 17 crew over the Grimaldi crater on the western near-side limb.

Crew

Astronaut	Prior missions	Subsequent missions
Eugene A. Cernan Commander	Gemini 9A, Apollo 10	None — final flight; last person to walk on the Moon
Ronald E. Evans Jr. Command Module Pilot	None (first flight)	None
Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt Lunar Module Pilot	None (first flight)	None — only professional geologist to walk on the Moon

Astronaut

Prior missions

Subsequent missions

Eugene A. Cernan

Commander

Gemini 9A, Apollo 10

None — final flight; last person to walk on the Moon

Ronald E. Evans Jr.

Command Module Pilot

None (first flight)

None

Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt

Lunar Module Pilot

None (first flight)

None — only professional geologist to walk on the Moon

Launch vehicle

Saturn V SA-512

Lunar landing

Open on the surface map →

Site: Taurus-Littrow
Coordinates: 20.1908° lat, 30.7717° lon
Touchdown: 1972-12-11 19:55 UTC
EVAs: 3 · total 22:03:57

Objectives

Final J-mission — longest surface stay (~75 hours) and longest cumulative EVA time (~22 hours).
First and only night launch of the Saturn V.
First professional geologist on the Moon (Schmitt).
Investigate the Taurus-Littrow valley, sampling both highlands material and mare basalts at one site.
Deploy the fifth and final ALSEP.

Milestones

When	Event
1972-12-07 05:33 UTC	First and only night launch of the Saturn V from LC-39A. Liftoff was delayed 2 hours 40 minutes by a launch-sequencer fault — the longest hold in the program. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo17.html
1972-12-11 19:55 UTC	Cernan and Schmitt landed LM 'Challenger' in the Taurus-Littrow valley. https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.html
1972-12-11 to 1972-12-14	Three EVAs totaling 22 hours 4 minutes — longest cumulative EVA time of any mission. LRV traverses out to South Massif and the Sculptured Hills; cumulative LRV distance ~35.7 km. https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.html
1972-12-12	Schmitt discovered orange volcanic glass at Shorty Crater — evidence of explosive lunar volcanism roughly 3.5 billion years ago. https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.html
1972-12-14 22:54 UTC	Cernan re-entered the LM after Schmitt — last person on the Moon. His parting words: 'we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.' https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.html
1972-12-17	Evans conducted a 67-minute trans-Earth coast EVA to retrieve film cassettes from the SIM bay. https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_17a_Summary.htm
1972-12-19 19:25 UTC	Splashed down in the Pacific; recovered by USS Ticonderoga. https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_17a_Summary.htm

Primary sources

Last updated 2026-05-09 15:17 UTC.