December 1972: Apollo 17 and the last mission to the moon

On December 1972, Apollo 17 turned out to be the last lunar mission:

“The Apollo lunar-landing program ends on December 19, 1972, when the last three astronauts to travel to the moon splash down safely in the Pacific Ocean. Apollo 17 had lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, 10 days before.”

Who would have believed that years ago?  I certainly did not!

The moon landing program was one of our greatest accomplishments.  

First, we beat the USSR to the moon.   By the way, that was no small feat considering the the Soviets had an early start with Sputnik in 1957.

Second, we expanded technology and showed the world that the US was indeed a superpower.  NASA’s scientists and engineers gave us computers, calculators and paved the way for what we have today.

Will we go back to the moon?  I don’t know for sure.  However, it is hard to believe that we spent the 1960′s committed to a lunar program and then just pulled the plug.