December 7

On the 7th in 1972, onboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft, the last manned mission to the moon, Jack ‘Harrison’ Schmitt, the lunar module pilot, snapped what has come to be known as ‘The Blue Marble’ photograph. His comment upon taking the picture was “Ah! You see one Earth, you’ve seen them all.”

Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 17’s commander, the last person to walk on the moon (On December 14, 1972), as he re-entered the lunar module said “As I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I'd like to just say what I believe history will record – that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. 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. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."