Apollo 17 Apollo 17 Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, with a crew made up of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, it was the last use of Apollo hardware for its original purpose; after Apollo 17, extra Apollo spacecraft were used in the Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs. Apollo 17 was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the final manned launch of a Saturn V rocket. It was a "J-type mission" which included three
Ireland lunar sample displays fragment that was cut from lunar basalt 70017. The sample was collected on the moon by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt in 1972. It was cut into one-gram fragments back on earth and this specimen was enveloped in a plastic ball and mounted on a wooden plaque along with Ireland's flag, which had been taken to the moon and back on Apollo 17. The plaque was sent to Ireland by Richard Nixon in 1973 and is in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. Ireland lunar sample displays The Ireland lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small