Free Republic

The ultimate strangers in a strange land, travel-weary astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt huddled in their tiny Apollo 17 lunar lander, ate military-issue omelets, harmonized "good morning to you" and stumbled through a silly parody of The Night Before Christmas. The date was Dec. 14, 1972, the day America retreated from the moon. Apollo 17, launched 30 years ago Saturday, represents the closing chapter in an awe-inspiring series of a half-dozen, 240,000-mile expeditions that unfolded over a dizzying 42 months. The Apollo program delivered a dozen American astronauts to the moon's rugged terrain for an unprecedented, firsthand look...

<p>A fingertip-sized moon rock, brought to Earth aboard Apollo 17, could be worth millions of dollars. A fingertip-sized moon rock, brought to Earth aboard Apollo 17, could be worth millions of dollars.</p> <p>MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- In a cross between science fiction and a children's tale, a moon rock gets dug up from its peaceful valley, flies aboard Apollo 17 to Earth, visits Honduras and winds up in a U.S. court.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 June 28 Lunar Module at Taurus-Littrow Credit: Daniel D. Durda (SwRI), Space Imagery Center, LPL, Apollo 17 Explanation: Can the Hubble Space Telescope take a picture that shows the Apollo lunar modules on the Moon? With its 2.4 meter diameter mirror, the smallest object that the Hubble can resolve at the Moon's distance of around 400,000 kilometers is about 80 meters across. So, from low Earth orbit...