Evans was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 5 in 1966 and made his only flight into space as Command Module Pilot aboard Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last crewed mission to the Moon, with Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt. During the flight, Evans and five mice orbited the Moon a record 75 times as his two crewmates descended to the surface. He is the last person to orbit the Moon alone and, at 148 hours, holds the record for the most time spent in lunar orbit. In 1975 Evans served as backup Command Module Pilot for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project mission.