50th ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 17 (Natl Acad), Dec 14, 2022, DC, 6:30-7:30 pm ET

The National Academy of Sciences will hold an event on December 14, 2022 from 6:30-7:30 pm ET to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17, the last mission to land astronauts on the Moon, and celebrate the progress of the Artemis program to resume human lunar exploration.

December 14 is the day Gene Cernan and Harrison “Jack” Schmitt lifted off from the lunar surface to rejoin Command Module Plot Ron Evans. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 19, bringing the U.S. lunar Apollo program to a close.

The event will be livestreamed.

Participants include:

• Retired Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt
• Former astronaut Leland Melvin
• President of the National Academy of Sciences Marcia McNutt
• Former astronaut and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
• Curator of the Apollo Collection at the National Air and Space Museum Teasel Muir-Harmony
• Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space (and former NASA Acting Administrator) Robert Lightfoot

A geologist, Schmitt was the first and only scientist to walk on the Moon. His Apollo 17 crewmates, Gene Cernan and Ron Evans, have both passed away. Schmitt was a U.S. Senator from New Mexico for one term (1977-1983).