Apollo 17 — Taurus–Littrow

The last people on the Moon — 1972

In December 1972 Apollo 17 carried people to the Moon for the last time. Eugene Cernan and geologist Harrison Schmitt landed in a valley between mountains and worked for 3 days — the longest stay on the Moon. Schmitt found orange soil — a trace of an ancient volcanic eruption. Before leaving, Cernan wrote his daughter's initials in the dust. Nobody has been to the Moon since — maybe your generation will go!

Apollo 17 (7–19 December 1972) was the programme's last and longest mission: 75 hours on the surface, 3 moonwalks (22 hours), 36 km by rover, 110.5 kg of samples — all records. The crew included the first professional scientist, geologist Harrison Schmitt. The Taurus–Littrow valley lies at the edge of the Sea of Serenity between 2 km massifs; at Shorty crater they found orange glass — the product of a volcanic fire fountain 3.6 billion years ago. Eugene Cernan was the last person to walk on the Moon ('We shall return — with peace and hope'). It was Saturn V's final flight. NASA's Artemis programme plans to return people to the Moon's south pole in the 2020s.

Fun facts

• The Apollo 17 crew took the famous 'Blue Marble' photo of the whole Earth.
• Astronauts said Moon dust smells like gunpowder.
• Of the 12 people who walked on the Moon, only four are alive today (2025).