Apollo 17 commander left camera on moon 40 years ago The last man to walk on the moon has revealed how he left his camera behind on the lunar surface 40 years ago, only to find that no one went back to collect it for him. Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan’s camera is still sitting exactly where it was left with its lens pointing out into space; an experiment into solar cosmic radiation he hoped could be collected by future astronauts. But 40 years on Cernan’s departing footprints remain the last to be planted on the lunar surface, as NASA budget cutbacks eventually forced the closure of the Apollo programme. The retired U.S. Navy captain and veteran of three space flights said he still remembers the image of his last footprint as he left the Moon, but that he wished he had the photograph to prove it. Speaking ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 17 launch today he said: “I left my Hasselblad camera there with the lens pointing up at the zenith, the idea being someday someone would come back and find out how much deterioration solar cosmic radiation had on the glass. “So, going up the ladder, I never took a photo of my last footstep. How dumb! Wouldn’t it have been better to take the camera with me, get the shot, take the film pack off and then (for weight restrictions) throw the camera away?” Back in 1972, Cernan, 78, thought his voyage “wasn’t the end but the beginning” for manned exploration of the Moon, and believed an astronaut would have set foot on Mars by the end of the century. Instead, NASA’s budget began to decline and three further missions planned to follow Cernan’s crew were scrapped, bringing an end to the “golden age” of space flight. Full Article→ Credit: Nick Collins, Science Correspondent for The Telegraph

Apollo 17 commander left camera on moon 40 years ago

The last man to walk on the moon has revealed how he left his camera behind on the lunar surface 40 years ago, only to find that no one went back to collect it for him.

Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan’s camera is still sitting exactly where it was left with its lens pointing out into space; an experiment into solar cosmic radiation he hoped could be collected by future astronauts.

But 40 years on Cernan’s departing footprints remain the last to be planted on the lunar surface, as NASA budget cutbacks eventually forced the closure of the Apollo programme.

The retired U.S. Navy captain and veteran of three space flights said he still remembers the image of his last footprint as he left the Moon, but that he wished he had the photograph to prove it.

Speaking ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 17 launch today he said: “I left my Hasselblad camera there with the lens pointing up at the zenith, the idea being someday someone would come back and find out how much deterioration solar cosmic radiation had on the glass.

“So, going up the ladder, I never took a photo of my last footstep. How dumb! Wouldn’t it have been better to take the camera with me, get the shot, take the film pack off and then (for weight restrictions) throw the camera away?”

Back in 1972, Cernan, 78, thought his voyage “wasn’t the end but the beginning” for manned exploration of the Moon, and believed an astronaut would have set foot on Mars by the end of the century.

Instead, NASA’s budget began to decline and three further missions planned to follow Cernan’s crew were scrapped, bringing an end to the “golden age” of space flight.

Full Article→

Credit: , Science Correspondent for The Telegraph


Posted 5 months ago with 94 notes
Tagged: ● Astronomy ● astronaut ● NASA ● science ● apollo 17 ● space ● cosmos

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    now im sad
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    This makes me want to cry.
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    that’s so sad :[
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