Apollo 17 0.1 Prelaunch part 1

Apollo 17 was the third Type J mission, an extensive scientific investigation of the Moon on the lunar surface and from lunar orbit. Although the spacecraft and launch vehicle were similar to those for Apollo 15 and 16, some experiments were unique to this mission. It was also the final piloted lunar landing mission of the Apollo program.

The primary objectives were:

• to perform selenological inspection, survey, and sampling of materials and surface features in a preselected area of the Taurus-Littrow region;
• to emplace and activate surface experiments; and
• to conduct inflight experiments and photographic tasks.

The targeted landing site, Taurus-Littrow, was selected because of the certainty of acquiring highlands material, the potential for superior orbital coverage, and for better use of the LRV.

The crew members were Captain Eugene Andrew “Gene” Cernan, (USN), commander; Commander Ronald Ellwin Evans (USN), command module pilot; and Harrison Hagan “Jack” Schmitt, Ph.D., lunar module pilot.

Selected as an astronaut in 1963, Cernan was making his third spaceflight. He had been pilot of Gemini 9-A and lunar module pilot of Apollo 10, the first test of the LM in lunar orbit and the dress rehearsal for the first piloted landing on the Moon. Born 14 March 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, Cernan was 38 years old at the time of the Apollo 17 mission. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1956 and an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1963. His backup for the mission was Captain John Watts Young (USN).

Evans and Schmitt were making their first spaceflights. Born 10 November 1933 in St. Francis, Kansas, Evans was 39 years old at the time of the mission. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1956 and a M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1964, and he was selected as an astronaut in 1966.[1] His backup was Lt. Colonel Stuart Allen Roosa (USAF).

A geologist, Schmitt was the first true scientist to explore the Moon. Born 3 July 1935 in Santa Rita, New Mexico, he was 37 years old at the time of the Apollo 17 mission. Schmitt received a B.S. in science from the California Institute of Technology in 1957 and a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University in 1964. He was selected as an astronaut in 1965. His backup was Colonel Charles Moss Duke, Jr. (USAF).

The capsule communicators (CAPCOMs) for the mission were Major Charles Gordon Fullerton (USAF), Lt. Colonel Robert Franklyn Overmyer (USMC), Robert Alan Ridley Parker, Ph. D., Joseph Percival Allen IV, Ph. D., Captain Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (USN), Commander Thomas Kenneth “Ken” Mattingly, II (USN), Duke, Roosa, and Young. The support crew were Overmyer, Parker, and Fullerton. The flight directors were Gerald D. Griffin (first shift), Eugene F. Kranz and Neil B. Hutchinson (second shift), and M.P. “Pete” Frank and Charles R. Lewis (third shift).

The Apollo 17 launch vehicle was a Saturn V, designated SA-512. The mission also carried the designation Eastern Test Range #1701. The CSM was designated CSM-114, and had the call-sign “America.” The lunar module was designated LM-12, and had the call-sign “Challenger.”

[edit] Apollo 17 Spacecraft History

From Apollo By The Numbers, http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm