Apollo 17 - The Last Lunar Mission

Photo courtesy of NASA.
Today's picture shows Apollo 17 sitting on the launch pad on December 7, 1972 preparing to blast off on the final Apollo Lunar Mission. Jules Verne predicted way back in 1865 that some day it would be possible for man to travel to the moon, and just over a century later his prediction came true with the now-famous Apollo Lunar Missions.

Apollo 17 was the last of nine lunar missions that allowed a dozen American citizens to walk, play and explore on the surface of the moon - the very same moon that appears so large yet is so far away as I stand in my yard gazing out into space on a clear night.

The Apollo missions have been recognized as tremendous achievements that added untold volumes to both human history and scientific understanding, but some see them (and all space exploration for that matter) as a waste of resources and wealth. Personally, I believe they were worth every penny we spent plus a whole lot more.

It is my belief that God gave man an inquisitive mind, an adventurous spirit, and an intense desire to explore all of His creations, not just the ones here on earth but those in other parts of the universe as well. I hope to see us return to the moon in the near future and eventually venture out to other planets in our solar system and points beyond.

Unmanned spacecraft and rovers make excellent explorers that do a great job at sending back to earth detailed images and mounds of valuable scientific data, and we need to dispatch lots more of them...but we also need human explorers walking upon the surface of distant worlds, examining whatever they find there with their own human eyes, live and in person!

While the Apollo lunar missions were spectacularly successful, we need to view them as simply a great first effort. We need to take what we learned from them and all of our other scientific research and take manned spaceflight to the next level, starting with the planet mars. In my opinion, these future manned missions will not be a waste of money, but if we fail to follow through on them it will definitely be a wasted opportunity.

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