Page 107 - The Appollo Story

~----------t The Apollo Story

Apollo 17 (AS-512) Last Man On The Moon
The launch countdown of Apollo 17 proceeded smoothly until 30 seconds before the scheduled ignition
when a failure in the automatic countdown sequencer occurred and delayed the launch for 2 hours 40 min-
utes. At 12:33 am on 7 December 1972 the five engines of a Saturn V's first stage burst into a supernova
of light, flooding the darkness and sending Apollo 1 7 riding a thunderous trail away from Earth. This was
the first night-time launch and the final Apollo mission to the Moon.
On board was Commander Eugene Cernan, returning after three years after Apollo 10, LM pilot Harri-
son 'Jack' Schmitt, the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface and CM pilot Ronald Evans.
Originally Joe Engle had been selected as LM pilot, but once it had become clear that this would be the
last lunar flight NASA was under pressure to send a scientist and professional geologist, so Schmitt was
brought forward from the cancelled Apollo 18. The launch cover below is signed by the crew.

The insignia's most promi-
nent feature is an image of
the Greek sun god Apollo
back dropped by a rendering
of an American eagle, the red
bars on the eagle mirroring
those on the flag of the
United States. Three white
stars above the red bars repre-
sent the three crewmen of the
mission. The background in-
cludes the Moon, the planet
Saturn and a galaxy or neb-
ula. The wing of the eagle
partially overlays the Moon,
suggesting man's established
presence there. The gaze of
Apollo and the direction of
the eagle's motion embody
man's intention to explore
fmiher destinations in space.

WEE!

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OUTER
SPACE
SIX MICE ACCOMPANY AIS 17
11
APOLLO 17 ASTRONAUTS