Apollo 17 remains the last manned mission to the Moon as of 2022.^[3] The mission ran for 12 days, launching 7 December 1972 and concluding with ocean splashdown on 19 December 1972.^[5] It carried Harrison Schmitt, the first scientist to walk on the Moon, as pilot of the lunar module Challenger.^[1] At the time it flew, Apollo 17 achieved the longest spacewalk duration and the farthest distance travelled by astronauts on the lunar surface.^[2] Funding cuts after the lunar landing objective was met led NASA to cancel planned follow-on missions including Apollo 18.^[4] Planned Artemis missions may end this half century gap in human lunar visits.