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Apollo 17 was the sixth and last mission to land people on the moon, as well as the final mission of the Apollo program.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years is scheduled to launch Wednesday night out of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A crew of four astronauts is taking part in the Artemis II launch, as its window for lift off begins at 6:24 p.m. EST.
The 10-day mission, which really is about nine days and one hour according to officials, will send the astronauts around the moon and back to Earth.
The crew will do a flyby of the moon, check out Orion’s systems, and learn how to live and work on another world in preparation for human missions to Mars.
The keyword there is flyby, as the Artemis launch does not involve the crew actually landing on the moon.
This means the last time astronauts physically landed on the moon was in 1972 for the Apollo 17 mission.
What was the Apollo 17 mission?
The Apollo 17 mission took place between Dec. 7-19, 1972, featuring crew members Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans and Harrison H. Schmitt, who was the first ever geologist and only person without a background in military aviation to have walked on the Moon.
The mission’s objective included surveying and sampling of materials and surface features in a preselected area of the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon.
A memorable moment was when Schmitt discovered orange soil on the Moon’s surface. He believed at first it could be evidence of a young volcanic deposit.
“It’s all over!! Orange!!!” Schmitt said.
“Hey, it is!! I can see it from here!” Cernan replied.
Cernan and Schmitt are two of the 12 people who have ever walked on the moon. Schmitt is also one of four moonwalkers who are still alive.
In the 12 days, the crew traveled a distance of over 1.4 million miles.
It is the sixth mission to land people on the moon, the last mission of the Apollo program.
Why isn’t the Artemis II mission landing on the moon?
The Artemis II cannot land on the moon due to the spacecraft having no landing capabilities, according to Space.com. That goal is being saved for the eventual Artemis 4 mission.
The specific objective of the Artemis II mission is to check out Orion’s systems and learn how to live and work on another world in preparation for human missions to Mars.
“Artemis II is a key test flight in our effort to return humans to the moon’s surface and build toward future missions to Mars, and it’s also an opportunity to inspire people across the globe and to give them an opportunity to follow along as we lead the way in human exploration deeper into space,” said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement.
CNN also explains that landing on the moon is not being done for financial reasons, but does state that NASA has provided funding to SpaceX and Blue Origin to build a lunar lander in the future.
After launch, the crew will spend about two days checking out Orion’s systems and performing a targeting demonstration test relatively close to Earth before beginning the trek toward the moon.
The crew will then test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the moon.
According to NASA, “The crew will assess the performance of the life support systems necessary to generate breathable air and remove the carbon dioxide and water vapor produced when the astronauts breathe, talk, or exercise.”
TEGNA Digital contributed to this story.
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