The mission was a huge success. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt explored the moon, collecting more than 240 pounds of rocks and soil. They drove around the bumpy lunar surface in a four-wheeled Lunar Roving Vehicle. They also took thousands of photos for scientists to study back on Earth.
On December 14, 1972, the astronauts climbed into their space capsule and lifted off to start the long trip home. No one has set foot on the moon since.
Fifty years later, NASA is preparing to return. The U.S. space agency plans to send a crew to the moon in 2025.
The program, called Artemis, is already underway. In November, an uncrewed test flight blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to orbit the moon.
“It’s really exciting,” says Rachel Kraft, who works at NASA. “Our goal is to understand what it takes to live and work on another celestial body.”