Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater
On the Moon, it is easy to remember where you parked.
In December of 1972,
Apollo 17 astronauts
Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours
on the Moon in the Taurus-Littrow
valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead.
This sharp image was taken by Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the
valley floor.
The image
shows Schmitt on the left with the
lunar rover at the edge of Shorty Crater,
near the spot where geologist Schmitt
discovered orange lunar soil.
The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110 kilograms
of rock and soil samples, more than was
returned from any of the other lunar
landing sites.
Now forty three years later, Cernan and Schmitt are still
the last to walk
on the Moon.