Apollo 17

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Apollo 17

Launched: 7 December 1972

Landed: 11 December 1972, Taurus-Littrow Valley

Splashed Down: 19 December 1972

Crew:

Eugene A. Cernan, Commander

Ronald B. Evans Command Module Pilot

Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot

Schmitt and Cernan left behind the Lunar Module 'Challenger' and drove around almost 34 kilometres of lunar ground during this, the last mission when humans walked on the moon. Schmitt was the first scientist, a geologist by trade, to visit the Moon, and became the last man to set foot on another celestial body.

The astronauts collected a record 108.86 kilograms of lunar rocks, including some that were orange in colour, during their three moon walks and drives through the Taurus-Littrow Valley.

The last three scheduled Apollo missions had already been cancelled because of budgetary shortfalls by the time of this flight. The astronauts left behind a plaque that read:

"Here Man completed his first exploration of the Moon, December 1972 A.D. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind"

Mission Details:

Apollo-17 (33)

Pad 39 (11)

Saturn-V AS-512

High Bay 3

MLP 3

Firing Room 1

Payload:

Apollo 17 America (CM-114) and Challenger (LM-12)

Launch:

7 December 1972, 00:33:00 EST from Kennedy Space Center. The CSM, LM and SIVB booster stage were inserted 11 min 53 sec after launch into an Earth parking orbit of 91.2 by 92.5 n.mi. After two revolutions, at 08:45:37 GMT, Apollo 17 was inserted into translunar coast

Orbits:

Duration: 12 Days, 13 hours, 52 min, seconds

Surface-Time: 75hrs

Lunar Location: Taurus-Littrow

Lunar Coordinates: 20.16 degrees North, 30.77 degrees East

Mission Objective:

The lunar landing site was the Taurus-Littrow highlands and valley area. This site was picked for Apollo 17 as a location where rocks both older and younger than those previously returned from other Apollo missions and from the Luna 16 and 20 missions might be found

The mission was the final in a series of three J-type missions planned for the Apollo program. These J-type missions can be distinguished from previous G and H-series missions by extended hardware capability, larger scientific payload capacity and by the use of the battery powered Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV)

Scientific objectives of the Apollo 17 mission included geological surveying and sampling of materials and surface features in a preselected area of the Taurus-Littrow region, deploying and activating surface experiments, and conducting inflight experiments and photographic tasks during lunar orbit and trans-Earth coast (TEC). These objectives included: Deployed experiments such as the Apollo lunar surface experiment package (ALSEP) with a Heat Flow experiment, Lunar seismic profiling (LSP), Lunar surface gravimeter (LSG), Lunar atmospheric composition experiment (LACE) and Lunar ejecta and meteorites (LEAM). The mission also included Lunar Sampling and Lunar orbital experiments. Biomedical experiments included the Biostack II Experiment and the BIOCORE experiment.

Mission Highlights:

At 09:15:29 GMT on 7 December 1972 the CSM was separated from the SIVB. Approximately 15 min later, the CSM docked with the LM. After CSM/LM extraction from the SIVB, the SIVB was targeted for lunar impact, which occured on 10 December at 20:32:43 GMT. The impact location was approximately 84nm northwest of the planned target point and the event was recorded by the passive seismic experiments deployed on the Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 missions

Only one of the four planned midcourse corrections was required during translunar coast. A mid-course correction made at 17:03:00 GMT on 8 December was a 1.6 sec service propulsion system burn resulting in a 10>:5 ft/sec velocity change. Lunar orbit insertion was accomplished at 19:47:23 GMT on 10 December placing the spacecraft into a lunar orbitof 170nm by 52.6 nm. Approximately 4hr 20 min later, the orbit was reduced to 59 by 15nm. The spacecraft remained in this low orbit for more than 18 hrs, during which time the CSM/LM undocking and separation were performed. The CSM circularisation manoeuver was performed at 18:50:29 GMT on 11 December which placed the CSM into an orbit of 70.3 by 54.3 nm. AT 14:35:00 GMT on 11 December the Commander and Lunar Module Pilot entered the LM to prepare for descent to the lunar surface. At 18:55:42 GMT, the LM was placed into an orbit with a perilune altitude of 6.2 nm. Approximately 47 min later, the powered descent to the lunar surface began. Landing occured at 19:54:57 GMT on 11 December 1972 at lunar latitude 20 degrees 10min North and longitude 30 degrees 46min East.

Apollo 17 was the last lunar landing mission. 3 EVAs of 22 hours, 04 minutes on the lunar surface. EVA #1 began at 23:54:49 GMT on 11 December with Cernan egressing at 00:01:00 GMT on 12 December. The 1st EVA was 7 hr 12 min long and was completed at 07:06:42 GMT on 12 December. The second EVA was begun at 23:28:06 GMT on 12 Decxember. It lasted 7hr 37min and ended at 07:05:02 GMT on 13 December. The final EVA began at 22:25:48 GMT on 13 December and ended at 05:40:56 GMT on 14 December.

The LM ascent stage lifted off the moon at 22:54:37 GMT on 14 December. After a vernier adjustment manoeuver, the ascent stage was inserted into a 48.5nm by 9.4nm orbit. The LM terminal phase initiation burn was made at 23:48:58 GMT on 14 december. This 3.2 sec manoeuver raised the ascent stage orbit to 64.7 by 48.5 nm. The CSM and LM docked at 01:10:15 GMT. The LM ascent stage was jettisoned at 04:51:31 GMT on 15 December. Deorbit firing of the ascent stage was initiated at 06:31:14 GMT on 15 December and lunar impact occurred 19 min 7 sec later approximately 0.7 nm from the planned target at latitude 19deg 56min North and longitude 30 degrees 32min East. The ascent stage impact was recorded by the four Apollo 17 geophones and by each ALSEP at Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 landing sites.

Evans performed a trans-Earth EVA at 20:27:40 GMT on 17 December 1972 lasting 01 hour 06 minutes during which time the CMP retrieved the lunar sounder film and the panoramic and mapping camera film cassettes.

Apollo 17 hosted the first scientist-astronaut to land on Moon, Schmitt. Sixth automated research station was set up. LRV traverse total 30.5 km. Lunar surface stay-time, 75 hours. In lunar orbit 17 hours. 110.4 kg of material gathered

Boulder on the Moon's surface, looking towards Earth

Apollo Programme

Contents


	www.moonlandings.co.uk Apollo 1 \| Apollo 7 \| Apollo 8 \| Apollo 9 \| Apollo 10 \| Apollo 11 \| Apollo 12 \| Apollo 13 \| Apollo 14 \| Apollo 15 \| Apollo 16 \| Apollo 17 \| Apollo 18 - Soyuz \| Saturn V \| Launch Complexes \| Apollo Mission Summaries \| Apollo Facts \| Luna \| Costs Apollo 17 Launched: 7 December 1972 Landed: 11 December 1972, Taurus-Littrow Valley Splashed Down: 19 December 1972 Crew: Eugene A. Cernan, Commander Ronald B. Evans Command Module Pilot Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot Schmitt and Cernan left behind the Lunar Module 'Challenger' and drove around almost 34 kilometres of lunar ground during this, the last mission when humans walked on the moon. Schmitt was the first scientist, a geologist by trade, to visit the Moon, and became the last man to set foot on another celestial body. The astronauts collected a record 108.86 kilograms of lunar rocks, including some that were orange in colour, during their three moon walks and drives through the Taurus-Littrow Valley. The last three scheduled Apollo missions had already been cancelled because of budgetary shortfalls by the time of this flight. The astronauts left behind a plaque that read: "Here Man completed his first exploration of the Moon, December 1972 A.D. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind" Mission Details: Apollo-17 (33) Pad 39 (11) Saturn-V AS-512 High Bay 3 MLP 3 Firing Room 1 Payload: Apollo 17 America (CM-114) and Challenger (LM-12) Launch: 7 December 1972, 00:33:00 EST from Kennedy Space Center. The CSM, LM and SIVB booster stage were inserted 11 min 53 sec after launch into an Earth parking orbit of 91.2 by 92.5 n.mi. After two revolutions, at 08:45:37 GMT, Apollo 17 was inserted into translunar coast Orbits: Duration: 12 Days, 13 hours, 52 min, seconds Surface-Time: 75hrs Lunar Location: Taurus-Littrow Lunar Coordinates: 20.16 degrees North, 30.77 degrees East Mission Objective: The lunar landing site was the Taurus-Littrow highlands and valley area. This site was picked for Apollo 17 as a location where rocks both older and younger than those previously returned from other Apollo missions and from the Luna 16 and 20 missions might be found The mission was the final in a series of three J-type missions planned for the Apollo program. These J-type missions can be distinguished from previous G and H-series missions by extended hardware capability, larger scientific payload capacity and by the use of the battery powered Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) Scientific objectives of the Apollo 17 mission included geological surveying and sampling of materials and surface features in a preselected area of the Taurus-Littrow region, deploying and activating surface experiments, and conducting inflight experiments and photographic tasks during lunar orbit and trans-Earth coast (TEC). These objectives included: Deployed experiments such as the Apollo lunar surface experiment package (ALSEP) with a Heat Flow experiment, Lunar seismic profiling (LSP), Lunar surface gravimeter (LSG), Lunar atmospheric composition experiment (LACE) and Lunar ejecta and meteorites (LEAM). The mission also included Lunar Sampling and Lunar orbital experiments. Biomedical experiments included the Biostack II Experiment and the BIOCORE experiment. Mission Highlights: At 09:15:29 GMT on 7 December 1972 the CSM was separated from the SIVB. Approximately 15 min later, the CSM docked with the LM. After CSM/LM extraction from the SIVB, the SIVB was targeted for lunar impact, which occured on 10 December at 20:32:43 GMT. The impact location was approximately 84nm northwest of the planned target point and the event was recorded by the passive seismic experiments deployed on the Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 missions Only one of the four planned midcourse corrections was required during translunar coast. A mid-course correction made at 17:03:00 GMT on 8 December was a 1.6 sec service propulsion system burn resulting in a 10>:5 ft/sec velocity change. Lunar orbit insertion was accomplished at 19:47:23 GMT on 10 December placing the spacecraft into a lunar orbitof 170nm by 52.6 nm. Approximately 4hr 20 min later, the orbit was reduced to 59 by 15nm. The spacecraft remained in this low orbit for more than 18 hrs, during which time the CSM/LM undocking and separation were performed. The CSM circularisation manoeuver was performed at 18:50:29 GMT on 11 December which placed the CSM into an orbit of 70.3 by 54.3 nm. AT 14:35:00 GMT on 11 December the Commander and Lunar Module Pilot entered the LM to prepare for descent to the lunar surface. At 18:55:42 GMT, the LM was placed into an orbit with a perilune altitude of 6.2 nm. Approximately 47 min later, the powered descent to the lunar surface began. Landing occured at 19:54:57 GMT on 11 December 1972 at lunar latitude 20 degrees 10min North and longitude 30 degrees 46min East. Apollo 17 was the last lunar landing mission. 3 EVAs of 22 hours, 04 minutes on the lunar surface. EVA #1 began at 23:54:49 GMT on 11 December with Cernan egressing at 00:01:00 GMT on 12 December. The 1st EVA was 7 hr 12 min long and was completed at 07:06:42 GMT on 12 December. The second EVA was begun at 23:28:06 GMT on 12 Decxember. It lasted 7hr 37min and ended at 07:05:02 GMT on 13 December. The final EVA began at 22:25:48 GMT on 13 December and ended at 05:40:56 GMT on 14 December. The LM ascent stage lifted off the moon at 22:54:37 GMT on 14 December. After a vernier adjustment manoeuver, the ascent stage was inserted into a 48.5nm by 9.4nm orbit. The LM terminal phase initiation burn was made at 23:48:58 GMT on 14 december. This 3.2 sec manoeuver raised the ascent stage orbit to 64.7 by 48.5 nm. The CSM and LM docked at 01:10:15 GMT. The LM ascent stage was jettisoned at 04:51:31 GMT on 15 December. Deorbit firing of the ascent stage was initiated at 06:31:14 GMT on 15 December and lunar impact occurred 19 min 7 sec later approximately 0.7 nm from the planned target at latitude 19deg 56min North and longitude 30 degrees 32min East. The ascent stage impact was recorded by the four Apollo 17 geophones and by each ALSEP at Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 landing sites. Evans performed a trans-Earth EVA at 20:27:40 GMT on 17 December 1972 lasting 01 hour 06 minutes during which time the CMP retrieved the lunar sounder film and the panoramic and mapping camera film cassettes. Apollo 17 hosted the first scientist-astronaut to land on Moon, Schmitt. Sixth automated research station was set up. LRV traverse total 30.5 km. Lunar surface stay-time, 75 hours. In lunar orbit 17 hours. 110.4 kg of material gathered Boulder on the Moon's surface, looking towards Earth Apollo Programme Contents