Apollo 17 facts for kids

The Apollo 17 group logo

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.

The Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 17's three people into space

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

• 

  Landing site and surrounding area, as imaged from the Apollo 17 command module, 1972

• 

  Gene Cernan participates in geology training in Sudbury, Ontario, in May 1972

• 

  Cernan (seated, right) and Schmitt in the training LRV with the mockup LM in the background, August 1972

• 

  Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle as it was finally left parked on the Moon. The Surface Electrical Properties (SEP) experiment 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

• 

  Composite image of Harrison Schmitt working next to Tracy's Rock during EVA-3

• 

  An oblique, black-and-white view of a portion of Mare Orientale from the CSM, illustrating the illuminating effect of Earthlight on the lunar terrain below during local nighttime; Evans reported seeing a light "flash" apparently originating from the surface in this area

• 

  Apollo 17 post-splashdown recovery operations

• 

  Apollo 17 command module America, on display at Space Center Houston

• 

  Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the Apollo 17 mission site taken in 2011, the Challenger descent stage is in the center, the Lunar Rover Vehicle appears in the lower right.

See also

In Spanish: Apolo 17 para niños