Apollo 17 facts for kids
Apollo 17 was the last flight to send people to the moon. It was done by NASA, the American space group.
It went up to space on December 7, 1972, carrying three astronauts: Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt and Ronald Evans. On December 11, 1972, Cernan and Schmitt became the last humans to land on the moon, while Evans stayed in orbit around the Moon.
The Flight
Going to and from space
About 500,000 people viewed the flight of Apollo 17. A Saturn V rocket took flight from the Kennedy Space Center in America.
About two hours after leaving Earth the bit with the people in it went away from the main rocket. The bit with the people in it had two parts, the Apollo Command Module called America and the Apollo Lunar Module called Challenger. America was the moon control space ship and Eagle was the moon-landing space ship. 3 days later the team entered Lunar Orbit (orbit around the moon). A day later the Challenger went away from America. The Challenger landed safely on the moon with Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt inside.
Photos
-
Apollo 17 astronauts (left to right): Harrison Schmitt, Eugene Cernan and Ronald Evans.
-
The Saturn V rocket waiting for launch.
-
The Blue Marble as photographed by Apollo 17.
-
Eugene Cernan as photographed by Harrison Schmitt.
-
Eugene Cernan on the Lunar Rover.
Images for kids
-
Apollo 17 space-flown silver Robbins medallion
-
Gene Cernan participates in geology training in Sudbury, Ontario, in May 1972
-
Lunar Regolith collected during Apollo 17
-
Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle as it was finally left parked on the Moon. The surface electrical properties (SEP) receiver is the antenna on the right-rear of the vehicle
-
Apollo 17 SIM bay on the service module America, seen from the Lunar Module Challenger in orbit around the Moon
-
Apollo 17 command module America, on display at Space Center Houston
-
The Apollo 17 Saturn V awaits launch
-
Vice President Spiro Agnew congratulates launch control after the launch
-
Lunar Orbiter 4 image of the Taurus-Littrow valley, with the landing site near center.
-
Harrison Schmitt poses with the American flag and Earth in the background during Apollo 17's first EVA. Eugene Cernan is visible reflected in Schmitt's helmet visor
-
View of the waning crescent Earth seen rising above the lunar horizon over the Ritz Crater
-
Schmitt stands next to a large boulder during EVA-3. He is looking in the direction of the LM which is visible beyond the right limb of the boulder.
-
Cernan in the lunar module after EVA-3
-
Schmitt in the lunar module after EVA-3
-
Evans performs an EVA before returning home
-
The plaque left on the Moon by Apollo 17
-
A model of the UV spectrometer used to take the first accurate measurements of the constituents of the Moon's atmosphere
-
Landing site, as imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009
-
Narrow-angle image of the LM Challenger descent stage surrounded by LRV tracks and footprints, as imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2011
.jpg)
.jpg)
