- 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. This file photo shows the Apollo 17 command module, with astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans and Harrison H. Schmitt aboard, after splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean to conclude the final lunar landing mission in the Apollo program. The prime recovery ship, U.S.S. Ticonderoga, is in the background as a U.S. Navy swimmer stands on the flotation collar. The splashdown occurred December 19, 1972, about 350 nautical miles southeast of the Samoan Islands.
? QUALITY DOCUMENT