- FILE PHOTO DECEMBER 1972 - Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, on December 19, 1972, humans returned from another celestial body for the last time following the last Apollo mission. In this file photo, the Apollo 17 command module, with astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans and Harrison H. Schmitt aboard, nears splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean to conclude the final lunar landing mission in the Apollo program. This overhead view was taken from a recovery aircraft seconds before the spacecraft hit the water. The splashdown occurred December 19, 1972, about 350 nautical miles southeast of the Samoan Islands.
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