Colonization of the Moon the Apollo 12 mission landed next to the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, demonstrating precision landing capability. The use of a manned vehicle on the Moon's surface was demonstrated in 1971 with the Lunar Rover during Apollo 15. Apollo 16 made the first landing within the rugged lunar highlands. However, interest in further exploration of the Moon was beginning to wane among the American public. In 1972, Apollo 17 was the final Apollo lunar mission, and further planned missions were scrapped at the directive of President Nixon. Instead, focus was turned to the Space Shuttle and crewed missions in near Earth orbit.
Tourism on the Moon landing. PTScientists is a partner of For All Moonkind, Inc. and has pledged that its mission will honor heritage preservation and abide by all relevant guidelines. Space tourism companies which have announced they are pursuing lunar tourism include Space Adventures, Excalibur Almaz, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX. The company Space Adventures has announced a planned mission, titled DSE-Alpha, to take two tourists within of the lunar surface, using a Soyuz spacecraft piloted by a professional cosmonaut. The trip would last around a week. In February 2017, SpaceX announced it had accepted deposits for a private week-long flyby mission to the Moon,