Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 11, 2022
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, with, on December 11, the most recent crewed lunar landing. Commander Gene Cernan (pictured) and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon, while Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans orbited above. Under pressure to send a scientist to the Moon, NASA replaced Joe Engle with Schmitt, who became the only professional geologist to land on the Moon. Mission planners sought a site shaped by volcanism, and selected Taurus–Littrow, where apparently-volcanic features had been seen. The mission lifted off early on December 7 after the only launch-pad delay in the Apollo program. Cernan and Schmitt landed and completed three moonwalks, taking lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. Orange soil discovered at Shorty crater proved to be volcanic in origin from early in the Moon's history. The command module, which also contained a biological experiment with five mice, returned to Earth on December 19. (Full article...)