NASA celebrates 50 years since last visit to the Moon, ushering in a new era of exploration

While humanity is witnessing the first rehearsal for the return of astronauts to the Moon in the 21st century, with the Artemis 1 mission, NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the last lunar expedition of the 20th century, Apollo 17, which began on December 7, 1972. Despite being the last human visit to the Moon (so far), it was the first and only trip by a scientist to Earth’s natural satellite.

It was a time of stark contrast to the present. By then, humans on the dusty lunar soil had almost become part of everyday life, and the public was starting to pay less attention to the missions. Pudera: during the Apollo program, these expeditions took place every six months on average.

The first mission near the Moon, Apollo 8 (which will be repeated by Artemis 2 in 2024 or 2025), took place in December 1968. Apollo 9 was in Earth orbit, 10 was a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing (which had everything but the landing itself) and the 11th, less than eight months after the 8th, would take Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to walk through the lunar soil and return safely to Earth, marking the American victory in the space race with the Soviet Union and fulfilling President John F. Kennedy’s goal, set eight years earlier.

With the conquest, the “blank check” policy for the American space agency would end. If, to beat the Soviets, NASA was able to spend up to 5% of the total US budget, after Apollo 11 the watchword was to contain costs. Almost immediately after the success of the first landing, the Richard Nixon administration already tried to plan the end of the lunar missions – canceling the scheduled Apollo 18, 19 and 20. In a few years, NASA’s budget went down to the level where it remains today, about 0.5% of total US federal government spending.

The already scheduled expeditions, for which vehicles were ready, continued. Apollo 12 took off in November 1969, making the first precision landing. The 13, launched in April 1970, produced the biggest scare of the program: an explosion on the way to the Moon almost killed the astronauts, who had to suspend any attempt at a lunar landing and improvise the lunar module as a lifeboat to return to Earth. .

With the accident, Apollo 14 would only depart in January 1971, fulfilling the objectives that 13 had no chance to accomplish. And from the 15th, in July 1971, the program gained its most expanded version, with a slightly enlarged lunar module, capable of transporting a jeep, the LRV (Lunar Roving Vehicle), and allowing longer stays on the surface of the Moon (up to three days). Apollo 17 was the third and last of that series and also the most successful.

Although NASA had been training scientists as astronauts for some time, none of them had yet been scheduled for a mission to the Moon. For the first missions, the agency prioritized the choice of military pilots, more accustomed to the risks and quick decisions that needed to be taken in an emergency.

The first flight of a scientist to the Moon was scheduled for the canceled Apollo 18. There was enormous embarrassment that the agency would shut down the program without getting an expert to the moon. And so the agency decided to pull geologist Harrison “Jack” Schmitt into the Apollo 17 crew.

The commander chosen to become the last man to step on the Moon in the 20th century was Eugene A. Cernan (1934-2017), who almost had the chance to land on Apollo 10. For him, the second lunar trip, this time to descend on the surface, it would be even more special. He said, in a statement to the Sheet given in 2010. “And that was the longest flight, the first and only night launch, which had a number of different challenges. So, in hindsight, I regret nothing.”

Completing the team, Ronald E. Evans (1933-1990) would make his first and only space flight, as pilot of the command module America.

The night take-off was necessary for the crew to arrive on time —with the most adequate level of solar incidence— to the Taurus-Littrow valley, the expedition’s destination. After departure, on December 7, the lunar module Challenger performed its landing on the 11th.

Several records were established – it was the longest stay to date on the Moon, 75 hours, and the longest lunar walks, 22 hours and 3 minutes, distributed in three sessions of extravehicular activities. It was also the longest distance traveled to date by a manned jeep on another celestial body — 35.7 km. Finally, the largest sample collection of the entire Apollo project —110.5 kg.

However, what drew the most attention was a subjective record set by Cernan and Schmitt: they were appointed as the astronauts who had the most fun during a lunar stay.

“If you judge from the footage we’ve taken, Apollo 17 has been accused of being the most fun mission we had on the Moon,” Cernan said, laughing. “We’ve said and done a lot of things, we’ve accomplished a lot of things, we’ve done everything we needed to do, all the experiments, but we’ve had fun too. And we’ve brought a lot of geology results. But I said to my two colleagues, ‘You’re just going to come for these sides once. So enjoy it. Enjoy the moment. Don’t worry about the question of whether or not you’re going to go home. At the time when we have to start the return, that’s the right time to say a little prayer. No before, okay? So enjoy.’ And that’s what we did.”

And note that on the first day they still had a problem: one of the blades that protected the LRV’s wheels broke. An impromptu repair was done by Cernan and Schmitt, and the vehicle ran perfectly the entire time with that patch.

After completing the third moonwalk, how did it feel? “Oh, I was disappointed. We would have liked to stay longer,” admitted Cernan. “Things were going well, but sometimes it’s when things are going well that it’s time to leave. You know, we didn’t have enough electricity, we didn’t have enough oxygen… maybe we had to stay one more day, but the plan was 72 hours, and it worked well. You can’t argue with success. Maybe if we had stayed one more day things could have gone wrong. It was the right decision. I had immense pride and satisfaction in what we managed to do.”

With the return of Apollo 17 to Earth, on December 19, 1972, the first great era of lunar exploration ended, after six expeditions to the surface. The next one, after five decades of waiting, is starting now, with the Artemis 1 mission, which ends its unmanned test flight this Sunday (11).