Verve looks back 50 years to the moment Eugene Cernan boarded Apollo 17, homeward bound, and in the process became the last person to set foot on the surface of the moon.
When Eugene Cernan boarded Apollo 17 in 1972, few could have imagined the moon’s surface would remain untouched by mankind again for five decades. Afterall, in the three previous years, 10 others had made the journey to experience the sensation of touching down on earth’s only natural satellite.
The ability to reach an orb that had mystified civilisations for millennia almost normalised space travel. From there, we were supposed to look further. And in fairness, we have – such is today’s technology unmanned missions can reach well beyond the confines of what human participation makes possible. Yet, it’s with a certain level of sadness that the ultimate journey, one fantasised over by astronauts, authors, filmmakers, and generations of children the world over, is one thats been five decades without repeat.
Cernan, the commander of Apollo 17, set off with his three-man crew to the moon on 7 December. He was joined by Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, while Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans orbited above.
The crew remained at the moon for 75 hours, making three seven-hour moonwalks, and at the end of the third, just before the module was set to leave, Cernan dropped to one knee and etched his daughter’s initials, ‘TDC’, onto the moon’s surface. Because there is no wind nor atmosphere present, those letters will likely remain there forever.
The trio began the return journey on 16 December, the trip back taking three days with them landing safely in the South Pacific Ocean.
Further missions had been planned to the moon, but even before Apollo 17’s departure, NASA had cancelled Apollos 18 and 19 because of congressional cuts. There was also a feeling after the Apollo 13 emergency that NASA risked having its entire manned space programme cancelled if a crew was lost on another Apollo mission.
Cernan passed away in January 2017; Evans had died aged 57 in 1990. Harrison Schmitt, who from 1977 to 1983 was United States Senator from New Mexico, is the lone survivor, joining only three other men who have walked on the moon (Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11; David Scott, Apollo 15; and Charles Duke, Apollo 16), still alive today.
