: The crew spent 75 hours on the lunar surface and performed three extravehicular activities (EVAs) totaling over 22 hours .
: Harrison Schmitt's expertise led to the discovery of "orange soil" at Shorty Crater, which was later identified as volcanic glass from a "fire fountain" eruption roughly 3.6 billion years ago. The Last Landing On The Moon
Despite the success of Apollo 17, humans have not returned to the lunar surface since Commander Cernan's final steps on December 14, 1972. Several factors contributed to this 50-year gap: : The crew spent 75 hours on the
Apollo 17 launched from the Kennedy Space Center on , at 12:33 a.m. EST, making it the only night launch of the Saturn V rocket. The crew consisted of: at 12:33 a.m. EST