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.
Interplanetary mission of future spacecraft making transneptunian journeys to new planets, although beyond Neptune there is only known to be exoplanets. Journey's to exoplanets are usually covered under the topic of interstellar travel, although the possibility of a rogue planet closer to Earth but not orbiting star may put an exoplanet more in reach. Interplanetary mission An interplanetary mission is a voyage or trip through outer space involving more than one planet. As of 25 April 2018, there have been no manned interplanetary missions. So far, all manned missions have been in Earth's orbit or to its Moon. A large number of