Harrison Schmitt cancelled in September 1970, the community of lunar geologists supporting Apollo felt so strongly about the need to land a professional geologist on the Moon, that they pressured NASA to reassign Schmitt to a remaining flight. As a result, Schmitt was assigned in August 1971 to fly on the last mission, Apollo 17, replacing Joe Engle as Lunar Module Pilot. Schmitt landed on the Moon with commander Gene Cernan in December 1972. Schmitt claims to have taken the photograph of the Earth known as "The Blue Marble", possibly one of the most widely distributed photographic images in existence. NASA officially
The Lady Astronaut of Mars The Lady Astronaut of Mars "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" is an alternate history/science fiction short story by Mary Robinette Kowal. It was first published in 2012 as part of the Audible.com anthology "Rip-Off". Thirty years after Elma York led the first expedition to Mars, she must choose between going on one last space mission or staying with her elderly husband as he dies. "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, but was disqualified on the grounds that, since it was originally presented in audio format, and Kowal had included stage directions