Apollo 17: Inside NASA’s Final Moon Landing Mission

A little more than three years after Neil Armstrong took mankind’s first steps on the moon, Apollo 17 astronauts left the last footprints on the lunar surface in December of 1972. Described by NASA as “the last, longest, and most successful” of the manned lunar landing missions, Apollo 17 yielded significant scientific discoveries and produced one of the most famous images in history of planet Earth.

WATCH: Moon Landing: The Lost Tapes on HISTORY Vault 

Apollo 17 Sends the First Scientist to Space

The mission began on December 7, 1972 when, at 33 minutes past midnight, the engines of a Saturn V rocket erupted and bathed Florida’s Cape Canaveral in an orange glow. As night turned to day, the fireball blinded spectators who came to see Apollo 17 roar skyward.

Source link