 
The 7 December 1972 the last American Mission to the Moon: is the Apollo XVII. His three astronauts, Commander Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, and the two pilots, are the last humans to set foot on the face of the Moon. Main purpose is to analyze the oldest Lunar Highland material produced as a result of impact with an asteroid: the collision created a deep and wide Groove, named by Nasa as the Mare Imbrium (Shadow sea or Sea of rains). The Mission in addition to be successful as it completes all its goals also sets several records, including: the longest tenure by a mission with humans on the Moon, extra vehicular activity time and the longest mission ever stay with humans in lunar orbit. In addition, for the first time in the Apollo missions, the rocket is launched at night, at hours 05:33, by John F. Kennedy Space Center. However, as a result of the high costs related to Moon exploration missions, later missions, Apollo respectively 18, 19 and 20 were cancelled. During his journey to the lunar orbit, the crew of Apollo XVII snapped one of the most important historical photographs: from a distance of about 29.000 They photographed the Earth in darkness of astronauts km universe.
Roberto Rossetti
