Apollo 17. On December 11 1972 Apollo 17 touched down on the Moon. This was not only our final Moon landing but the last time we left low Earth orbit.
Scientific objectives of the Apollo 17mission 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. Compared to previous Apollo missions Apollo 17 astronauts traversed the greatest distance using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. With the successful launch of.
Apollo 17 was the first night launch of a US.
Although the spacecraft and launch vehicle were similar to those for Apollo 15 and 16 some experiments were unique. This site was picked for Apollo 17 as a location where rocks both older and younger than those previously returned from other Apollo missions as well as from Luna 16 and 20 missions might be found. It was a J-type mission which included three days on the lunar surface extended scientific capability and the third Lunar Roving Vehicle LRV. The lunar landing site was the Taurus-Littrow highlands and valley area.