On December 7, 1972, Apollo 17 moon mission was launched. It was the last time humans travelled beyond low Earth orbit. The mission broke several records: the longest moon landing, longest moonwalks, largest lunar sample and longest time in lunar orbit. "The Blue Marble", an image of the Earth made by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft became one of the most reproduced images in history. TASS commemorates the 45th anniversary of the last manned mission to the moon.
"The Blue Marble" shot and the last moon landing
45 years ago the last manned mission to the moon was launched
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Apollo 17, the final lunar landing mission was launched on December 7, 1972. Apollo 17 was the first night launch of a US human spaceflight and the final manned launch of a Saturn V rocket
© NASA Aboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft were astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander; astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot and scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot. Photo: Eugene A. Cernan and Ronald E. Evans under zero-gravity conditions aboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft, 1972
© NASA Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, mission commander, walks toward the Lunar Roving Vehicle during extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site on the moon
© NASA The crescent Earth rises above the lunar horizon as seen from the Apollo 17 spacecraft
© NASA Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle
© NASA "The Blue Marble", an image of the Earth made on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft at a distance of about 29,000 kilometers from the surface. It is one of the most reproduced images in human history. Photo extends from Mediterranean Sea to the Antartic south polar ice cap. Almost the entire coast of Africa is delineated
© NASA Scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, uses an adjustable sampling scoop to retrieve lunar samples at the Taurus-Littrow landing site on the moon
© NASA Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed standing next to a huge, split boulder at the Taurus-Littrow landing site on the moon
© NASA The mission broke several records: the longest moon landing, longest moonwalks, largest lunar sample and longest time in lunar orbit
© NASA Jon Evans, 11, son of Apollo 17 command module pilot, Ronald E. Evans, points out one of the highlights of the television of the first EVA by moon explorers
© AP Photo Apollo 17 command module returned to Earth on December 19 after a 12-day mission
© AP Photo/PL