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Apollo 17 and moon of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Poss
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NASA's Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources |
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The Last Moon Shot
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The Last Moon Shot |
| Explanation |
In 1865 Jules Verne [ http://www.interlog.com/~anash/najvs.html ] predicted the invention of a space capsule that could carry people. In his science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon" [ http://JV.Gilead.org.il/pg/moon/ ], he outlined his vision of a cannon in Florida so powerful that it could shoot a "Projectile-Vehicle" [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/gal109/NEWHTF/ITM6201.HTM ] carrying three adventurers to the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ ap11ann/eagle.html ]. Over 100 years later, NASA [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/history.html ], guided by Wernher Von Braun [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html ]'s vision, produced the Saturn V rocket [ http://www.apollosaturn.com/ ]. From a spaceport in Florida [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html ], this rocket turned Verne's fiction into fact, launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ]. Pictured [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075937.htm ] is the last moon shot, Apollo 17 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo17info.html ], awaiting a night launch in December of 1972. Spotlights play on the rocket and launch pad while the full Moon looms [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/moon.html ] in the background. Humans have not walked on [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ apollo.epilog.html ] on the lunar surface since. [ http://ilewg.jsc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Solar Eclipse from the Moon
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Solar Eclipse from the Moon |
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Parts of Saturday's (March 3) lunar eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2007.html ] will be widely visible. For example, skywatchers [ http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/maaneclips2007/ leclips2007.html ] in Europe, Africa, and western Asia will be able to see the entire spectacle of the Moon gliding through Earth's shadow, but in eastern North America the Moon will rise already in its total eclipse phase [ http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html ]. Of course if you traveled to the Moon's near side [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/ 12feb_lunareclipse.htm ], you could see the same event as a solar eclipse, with the disk of our fair planet Earth [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/ ] completely blocking out the Sun. For a moon-based observer's view, graphic artist Hana Gartstein (Haifa, Israel [ http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=haifa,+israel &layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=7&ll=33.027088,34.865112 &spn=6.83228,13.886719&t=k ]) offers this composite illustration. In the cropped version of her picture, an Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051210.html ] image of Earth is surrounded with a red-tinted haze as sunlight streams [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031121.html ] through the planet's dusty atmosphere. Earth's night [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050611.html ] side remains faintly visible, still illuminated by the dark, reddened Moon, but the disk of the Earth would appear almost four times the size of the Sun's disk, so the faint corona surrounding the Sun would be largely obscured. At the upper left, the Sun itself [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060330.html ] is just disappearing [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=301 &month=3&day=3&year=2007&hour=22&minute=05&rfov=2 &fovmul=-1&bfov=30&porbs=1&showsc=1 ] behind the Earth's limb. |
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Eiffel Moon
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Eiffel Moon |
| Explanation |
Celestial and terrestrial lights are featured in this stunning image that includes the Moon in phases of the total lunar eclipse of March 3rd [ http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/ maaneclips2007/leclips2007.html ]. In the foreground, the distinctively-shaped Eiffel Tower [ http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/ ], over 300 meters tall, is a well-known tourist destination [ http://maps.google.com/ maps?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=48.8583,2.2945&spn=0.00324,0.007296&t=k&om=1 ] and one of the most visited buildings in the world. Of course the Moon is even more [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_in_art_and_literature ] recognizable, but harder to visit [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Grand_Day_Out ]. The last lunar tour was undertaken nearly 35 years ago, during the Apollo 17 mission [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060826.html ]. |
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Strange Orange Soil on the M
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Strange Orange Soil on the Moon |
| Explanation |
How did orange soil appear on the Moon? This mystery began [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/a17.sta4.html ] when astronaut Harrison Schmidt [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#jackbio ] noticed the off-color patch near Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001209.html ]'s Taurus-Littrow [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_lsite.html ] landing site in 1972. Schmidt and fellow astronaut Eugene Cernan [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#genebio ] scooped up some of the unusual orange soil [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/a17.sta4.html ] for detailed inspection back on Earth. Pictured above [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10076006.htm ] is a return sample shown greatly magnified, with its discovery location shown in the inset [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075960.htm ]. The orange soil [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo17/A17_sampact.html ] contains particles less than 0.1 millimeter across, some of the smallest particles yet found on the Moon [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/attm/wl.so.1.html ]. Lunar geologists now think that the orange soil [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/moon/moondust.htm ] was created during an ancient fire-fountain [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/volc/fountain.htm ]. Detailed chemical and dating analyses indicate [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996LPI....27..303D ] that during an explosive volcanic eruption 3.64 billion years ago, small drops [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000322.html ] of molten rock cooled rapidly into the nearly spherical colored grains. The origin of some of the unusual elements found in the soil [ http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/curator/lunar/lunar.htm ], however, remains unknown. |
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The Last Moon Shot
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The Last Moon Shot |
| Explanation |
In 1865 Jules Verne predicted the invention of a space capsule that could carry people. In his science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon" [ ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/.22/gutenberg/etext93/moon10.txt ], he outlined his vision of constructing a cannon in Florida so powerful that it could shoot a "Projectile-Vehicle" carrying three adventurers to the Moon. Over 100 years later, NASA, guided by Wernher Von Braun [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Biographies/biosa-d.html ]'s vision, produced the Saturn V rocket [ http://pscinfo.pscni.nasa.gov/online/msfc/spacelink2.html ]. This rocket [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950829.html ] turned Verne's fiction into fact, launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon. Pictured above is the last moon shot, Apollo 17 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo17info.html ], awaiting a night launch in December of 1972. Spot lights play on the rocket and launch pad while the full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950903.html ] looms in the background. Humans have not walked on the lunar surface since. [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/Apollo/apollo.epilog.html ] Should we return to the Moon? [ http://www.ari.net/back2moon.html ] Tomorrow's picture: White Dwarfs Cool |
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Apollo 17: Last on the Moon
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Apollo 17: Last on the Moon |
| Explanation |
In December of 1972, Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020128.html ] astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17j.html ] on the Moon, in the Taurus-Littrow valley [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/ expmoon/Apollo17/A17_lsite.html ], while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020628.html ]. Near the beginning of their third and final excursion [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.eva3prep.html ] across the lunar surface [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ], Schmitt took this picture of Cernan flanked by an American flag and their lunar rover's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010609.html ] umbrella-shaped high-gain antenna. The prominent [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/ a17.fam-mtn.html ] Sculptured Hills lie in the background while Schmitt's reflection can just be made out in Cernan's helmet. The Apollo 17 crew [ http://www.ari.net/nss/askastro/Apollo17/ home.html ] returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than from any of the other lunar landing sites [ http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~durda/Apollo/ landing_sites.html ]. And after thirty years, Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk [ http://www.alanbeangallery.com/ ] on the Moon. |
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The Last Moon Shot
| Title |
The Last Moon Shot |
| Explanation |
In 1865 Jules Verne [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030215.html ] predicted the invention of a space capsule that could carry people. In his science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon" [ http://JV.Gilead.org.il/pg/moon/ ], he outlined his vision of a cannon in Florida so powerful that it could shoot a "Projectile-Vehicle" [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/gal109/NEWHTF/ ITM6201.HTM ] carrying three adventurers to the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ ap11ann/eagle.html ]. Over 100 years later, NASA [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/history.html ], guided by Wernher Von Braun [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html ]'s vision, produced the Saturn V rocket [ http://www.apollosaturn.com/ ]. From a spaceport in Florida [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html ], this rocket turned Verne's fiction into fact [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/lunar_missions.html ], launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ]. Pictured is [ http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_gallery.html ] the last moon shot, Apollo 17 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ apollo17info.html ], awaiting its December 1972 night launch. Spotlights play on the rocket and launch pad at dusk. Humans have not walked on [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ apollo.epilog.html ] on the lunar surface since. |
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Apollo 17: Boulder on the Mo
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Apollo 17: Boulder on the Moon |
| Explanation |
Twenty five years ago humans roamed the Moon [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/LunarTop10.html ]. Pictured here during the last moon landing [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970504.html ], scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html#jackbio ] was photographed [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075973.htm ] standing next to a huge, split boulder. Apollo 17 [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/AS17/Apollo17_fact.html ] was one of six missions that landed humans on the moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ ] and returned them safely. Apollo 17 [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/AS17/Apollo17_MissionObj.html ] explored the unusually dark terrain at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, deployed explosives to test the internal geology of the Moon [ http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/apo17.htm ], and returned the most rocks of any lunar mission. |
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Destination: Moon
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Destination: Moon |
| Explanation |
Tuesday, January 6, at 9:28 p.m. EST, NASA's Lunar Prospector [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/ ] spacecraft climbed into the sky [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/payload/missions/prospector/movies/ athena2.mpg ] above Cape Canaveral Air Station riding an Athena II rocket [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/mixfleet.htm ]. Representing NASA's first Moon mission since the 1972 flight of Apollo 17 [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/apollo17/ ], this launch also occurred on the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Surveyor 7 lunar lander [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/surveyor.html ]. The three stage launch vehicle's [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/project/launchp.html ] fiery trail is in the foreground of this time exposure [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/payload/missions/prospector/images/ captions/KSC-98EC-0107.html ] while the Moon [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/education/tg/teach1.html ], near first quarter phase [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960919.html ], is shown in the background some 250,000 miles from the Cape. Prospector will cover that distance [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960727.html ] in about 5 days, entering lunar orbit on Sunday. Prospector carries no cameras to image the well-photographed [ http://www.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/clib/ ] lunar surface. Instead, its array of instruments [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/science/instrumentss.html ] will map the lunar gravity, magnetic field, internal structure, and surface composition. The result, a detailed global view of current lunar properties [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980107.html ], is expected to dramatically impact [ http://www.njin.net/~dmollica/index.html ] humanity's understanding of the origins [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/science/overview.html ] of the Moon and the Solar System. From its vantage point [ http://www.moonlink.com/ ] in polar orbit, only 63 miles above the lunar surface, Prospector will also conduct a sensitive search for water ice which may be preserved [ http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PSRdiscoveries/Dec96/IceonMoon.html ] in permanent shadow at the Moon's South Pole [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961204.html ]. |
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Bats And The Barren Moon
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Bats And The Barren Moon |
| Explanation |
This picture [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075986.htm ], taken as the Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970504.html ] astronauts orbited the Moon in 1972, depicts the stark lunar surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960420.html ] around the Eratosthenes and Copernicus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980909.html ] craters. Images of a Moon devoid of life are familiar to denizens of the space age [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/history/index.html ]. Contrary to this modern perception, life on the Moon was reported in August of 1835 [ http://www.historybuff.com/library/refmoon.html ] in a series of sensational stories first published by the New York Sun - apparently intended to improve the paper's circulation. These descriptions of lunar life [ http://www.bibliography.com/moon/ ] received broad credence and became one of the most spectacular hoaxes in history [ http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/#hoaxes ]. Supposedly based on telescopic observations, the stories featured full, lavish accounts [ http://storyteller.simplenet.com/stseason.html ] of a Moon with oceans and beaches, teeming with plant and animal life and climaxing with reported sightings of winged, furry, human-like creatures resembling bats [ http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/resource.html ] ! Within a month the trick had been revealed but the newspaper continued to enjoy an increased readership. For now ... have a safe [ http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/adv/kidspage/hsplash.htm ] and happy Halloween [ http://www.stignatius.org/third/3act.htm ] ! |
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The Last Moon Shot
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The Last Moon Shot |
| Explanation |
In 1865 Jules Verne [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030215.html ] predicted the invention of a space capsule that could carry people. His science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon" [ http://JV.Gilead.org.il/pg/moon/ ] outlined his vision of a cannon in Florida so powerful that it could shoot a Projectile-Vehicle [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/gal109/NEWHTF/ ITM6201.HTM ] carrying three adventurers to the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ ap11ann/eagle.html ]. Over 100 years later NASA [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/history.html ], guided by Wernher Von Braun [ http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html ]'s vision, produced the Saturn V rocket [ http://www.apollosaturn.com/ ]. From a spaceport [ http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html ] in Florida, this rocket turned Verne's fiction into fact [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/lunar_missions.html ], launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ]. As spotlights play on the rocket and launch pad at dusk, the last moon shot, Apollo 17 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ apollo17info.html ], is pictured here [ http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_gallery.html ] awaiting its December 1972 night launch. |
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Apollo 17: Last on the Moon
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Apollo 17: Last on the Moon |
| Explanation |
In December of 1972, Apollo 17 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051210.html ] astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17j.html ] on the Moon, in the Taurus-Littrow valley [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo17/ A17_lsite.html ], while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020628.html ]. Near the beginning of their third and final excursion [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.eva3prep.html ] across the lunar surface [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ], Schmitt took this picture of Cernan flanked by an American flag and their lunar rover's [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/lrvhand.html ] umbrella-shaped high-gain antenna. The prominent [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/ a17.fam-mtn.html ] Sculptured Hills lie in the background while Schmitt's reflection can just be made out in Cernan's helmet. The Apollo 17 crew [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/ AS17/a17crew.htm ] returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than from any of the other lunar landing sites [ http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~durda/Apollo/ landing_sites.html ]. Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk on the Moon [ http://www.alanbeangallery.com/ ]. |
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