Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan is covered in lunar dust after the mission's second moonwalk. On December 14, 1972, Cernan took his final steps on the moon and no one has been back since.
The last time a person visited the moon was in December 1972, during NASA's Apollo 17 mission. Astronauts say the reasons humans haven't returned are budgetary and political, not scientific or technical. It's possible NASA will be back on the moon by 2025, at the very earliest.
Human Moon landings require more resources than robotic landings, since humans require water, oxygen, food, and other amenities to remain alive. That said, several nations—including private companies from those nations—are working on robotic Moon initiatives that could support future human missions.
During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to walk on the Moon. As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains as of 2022, famously: "The last man on the Moon".
The very first nation to reach the surface of the moon was the USSR (Russia), whose unmanned spacecraft Luna 2 impacted the moon' surface on 12 September 1959. While Luna 2 was the first probe to land on the moon, it had been designed to crash-land into the surface (a "hard landing") rather than conduct a soft landing.
The United States is the only country to have successfully conducted crewed missions to the Moon, with the last departing the lunar surface in December 1972.
Images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have shown that the American flags left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts are still standing– except for the Apollo 11 mission, which Buzz Aldrin reported as being knocked over by engine exhaust as Apollo 11 lifted off.
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first of 12 human beings to walk on the Moon. Four of America's moonwalkers are still alive: Aldrin (Apollo 11), David Scott (Apollo 15), Charles Duke (Apollo 16), and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17).
The United States would go on to complete six crewed missions to the moon that landed a total of 12 astronauts (all men) from 1969 to 1972 in a series of Apollo missions numbering up to Apollo 17.
To date, only one country has succeeded in landing humans on the moon: the United States of America. As part of the Apollo space program, the United States has landed a total of 12 astronauts.
Cost To Colonize the Moon
If you're talking about the colonization of the moon--and some people are--NASA astrobiologist Chris McCay estimates that a small, starter moon base could be had for as little as $10 billion.
Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Proposals for human missions to Mars came from e.g. NASA, Russia, Boeing, and SpaceX. As of 2022, only robotic landers and rovers have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon.
And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind.” Those were the last words spoken on the moon by astronaut Gene Cernan, during the Apollo 17 mission, on Dec. 14, 1972.
Of the 109 lunar missions during the period, 61 were successful and 48 had failed, it stated.
The Apollo 17 LM and crew logged the longest stay on the Moon at 74 hours, 59 minutes, 38 seconds. The Apollo 17 Command Service Module (CSM) completed the most lunar orbits at 75, setting a record manned lunar orbit stay of 147 hours, 48 minutes.
Slow collision between lunar companions could solve moon mystery. Earth may have once had two moons, but one was destroyed in a slow-motion collision that left our current lunar orb lumpier on one side than the other, scientists say.
To date (2022) there is no population on the moon. The moon has been visited multiple times. So far, NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972 let humans be on the moon the longest (12 days 14 hours).
After Artemis 1, if all goes according to plan, a second mission — Artemis 2 — will launch and carry astronauts around the moon and back in 2024. Then in 2025 or 2026, Artemis 3 will see astronauts land on the moon near the lunar south pole.
Despite this, women still represent only about 10% of all people who have gone to space, being less chosen and enabled. Only 12 humans, all men, have ever walked on the Moon; all human Moon missions were part of the U.S. Apollo program between 1969 and 1972. No woman has ever walked on the Moon.
Some of it is waste from the trip that the astronauts dumped when they got to their destination. Aside from trash—from food packaging to wet wipes—nearly 100 packets of human urine and excrement have been discarded. The Apollo astronauts also dumped tools and television equipment that they no longer needed.
It takes about 3 days for a spacecraft to reach the Moon. During that time a spacecraft travels at least 240,000 miles (386,400 kilometers) which is the distance between Earth and the Moon. The specific distance depends on the specific path chosen.
Yes, the flag is still on the moon, but you can't see it using a telescope. I found some statistics on the size of lunar equipment in a Press Kit for the Apollo 16 mission. The flag is 125 cm (4 feet) long, and you would need an optical wavelength telescope around 200 meters (~650 feet) in diameter to see it.
Taking the Moon's Temperature
Daytime temperatures near the lunar equator reach a boiling 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120° C, 400 K), while nighttime temperatures get to a chilly -208 degrees Fahrenheit (-130° C, 140 K). The Moon's poles are even colder.
It's the emotional climax of the film: Neil Armstrong in his spacesuit standing on the lip of a crater on the moon, holding a bracelet spelling out the name of daughter Karen, who had died seven years earlier, before her third birthday.