On This Day
1972 – Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
Apollo 17 (December 7 – 19, 1972) was the final Moon landing mission of NASA’s Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Its crew consisted of Commander Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans. Schmitt became the only professional geologist to have landed on the Moon, and the mission’s heavy emphasis on science meant the inclusion of a number of new experiments, including a biological experiment containing five mice carried in the command module.
Launched at 12:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, Apollo 17 was a “J-type” mission that included three days on the lunar surface, extended scientific capability, and the use of the third Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). Cernan and Schmitt landed in the Taurus–Littrow valley and completed three moonwalks, taking lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. The landing site had been chosen to further the mission’s main goals: to sample lunar highland material older than Mare Imbrium, and to investigate the possibility of relatively recent volcanic activity.[3] Evans remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module (CSM), taking scientific measurements and photographs. Cernan, Evans, Schmitt, and the mice returned to Earth on December 19.[4]
Apollo 17 was the first mission to have no one on board who had been a test pilot; X-15 test pilot Joe Engle lost the lunar module pilot assignment to Schmitt, a geologist.[5][6] The mission included the first night launch of a U.S. crewed spacecraft and the final crewed launch of a Saturn V rocket. It was also the final use of Apollo hardware for its original purpose (extra Apollo spacecraft were later used in the Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs).
The mission broke several crewed spaceflight records, including the longest Moon landing, greatest distance from a spacecraft during an EVA of any type (7.6 kilometers, a record which still stands), longest total lunar surface extravehicular activities (22 hours 4 minutes),[7] largest lunar sample return (110.52 kilograms or 243.7 lb), longest time in lunar orbit (6 days 4 hours)[8] and most lunar orbits (75).[9]
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Born On This Day
1928 – Eve Bunting, Irish-American author and academic
Anne Evelyn Bunting (née Bolton) (born December 19, 1928), also known as Eve Bunting, is a Northern Ireland-born American writer of more than 250 books. Her work covers a broad array of subjects and includes fiction and non-fiction books. Her novels are primarily aimed at children and young adults, but she has also written the text for picture books. While many of her books are set in Northern Ireland, where she grew up, her topics and settings range from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Bunting’s first book, The Two Giants, was published in 1971. Due to the popularity of her books with children, she has been listed as one of the Educational Paperback Association’s top 100 authors.[1]
FYI
By Jonathan Raymond, 11 Alive: Johnny Isakson, longtime senator and one of Georgia’s ‘greatest statesmen’ dies at 76 The Republican served the state in the U.S. Senate for nearly 15 years
John Hardy Isakson (December 28, 1944 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia from 2005 to 2019 as a member of the Republican Party. He represented Georgia’s 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Isakson served in the Georgia Air National Guard (1966–1972) and graduated from the University of Georgia. He opened a real estate branch for Northside Realty and later served 22 years as the company’s president. After a failed bid for the Georgia House of Representatives in 1974, he was elected in 1976. He served seven terms, including four as minority leader. Isakson was the Republican candidate for governor of Georgia in 1990, but lost. Two years later, he was elected to the Georgia Senate and served one term. He unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary in the 1996 U.S. Senate election.
After 6th District Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich resigned, Isakson ran in the February 1999 special election to succeed him, winning by a 40-point margin. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 after Democratic incumbent Zell Miller opted not to run for re-election. With the backing of much of Georgia’s Republican establishment, he won both the primary and general elections by wide margins. He became the senior Senator from Georgia when Saxby Chambliss retired in 2015. On December 31, 2019, midway through his third Senate term, Isakson resigned from the Senate due to health concerns and was succeeded by fellow Republican Kelly Loefler who was appointed by the Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp to fill the vacant seat.
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Beshara Magazine: Tell Them What We Have Learned Here… Martha Cass writes about a remarkable group of 20th-century thinkers, known as the “death-cell philosophers”
By Scott Neuman, NPR News: A millipede with 1,300 legs has been found in Australia. It’s a new record by far
By Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News: Marilyn Cole, Playboy’s first full-frontal nude centerfold, recalls racy shoot: ‘It allowed me to be free’ The Playboy Bunny spoke out in the ‘Power: Hugh Hefner’ podcast
By Candese Charles, 11 Alive: ‘Call Tyrone’ | Louisiana man goes viral with 9 odd jobs Tyrone Smith a 27-year-old Houma man turned his nine odd jobs into a business.
Ideas
By Aaron Haras: Gandalf’s Magic Staff
Recipes
RecipeTinEats
- Nutella Stuffed Cookies November 22, 2024Nutella Stuffed Cookies. Yes, they are as naughty and indulgent as they look. But so much easier to make than you think! No electric beater, just a wooden spoon. That moment when the melty Nutella floods in your mouth…. send help! Nutella Stuffed Cookies This is no ordinary cookie. This is a cookie that is... […]Nagi
- New Orleans Chicken Wings November 19, 2024Why settle for plain chicken wings when you can have bold, spicy, New Orleans sass?! Tossed in Creole seasoning and garlic butter then baked until golden, the smell alone will make you drool. Easy enough for dinner, excellent for parties. Get in my belly! New Orleans Chicken Wings Today’s recipe is inspired by New Orleans... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 25 November 25, 2024Picture of the day Papaya fruits in a grocery store. Colatina, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 24 November 24, 2024Picture of the day The Scroll of Eighty-Seven Immortals, drawn by an unknown painter, measuring 30cm high and 292cm wide, is a line-drawing Chinese figure painting. Drawn on a long silk scroll with lines, the painting depicts 87 taoist immortals, including three supreme gods with halo, ten divine generals, seven deities and 67 celestial maidens […]
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Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
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