> In December 1972, astronaut Eugene Cernan became the last person to do which ofthe following?And the answer: walk on the moon. Photo credit: NASA.Gene Cernan holds the distinction of being the secondAmerican to walk in space and, as a crew member of Apollo 17, he was also thelast human to leave footprints on the lunar surface. Historians suggest that theend of the Cold War put an end to the urgency of moon exploration.Just eight years after President John F. Kennedy announced the ambitious goal ofreaching the moon, and just 12 years after the commencement of the Space Age,two sets of footprints made contact with the moon. The latter, Eugene Cernan,brought with him a history that still stands today. Thanks to Apollo 17,Americans now boast several new records for human space flight, including thelongest lunar landing flight (301 hours, 51 minutes), the longest lunar surfaceextravehicular activities (22 hours, 6 minutes), largest lunar sample return(nearly 249 pounds), and longest time in lunar orbit (147 hours, 48 minutes).At the conclusion of Cernan's trip to the moon, America had sunk around $25.8billion into the Apollo missions. Though the achievements were immense and feltwidely in the morale of the nation, the lessening pressure from the Cold Warbegan to sap the inspiration to go to space. In many ways, the space race'spolitics formed the backbone of its success, and without the driving force ofcompetition, the herculean effort became one that marked the 1960s alone.However, recent pledges by the United States government indicate a drive toreturn. With industries such as Space X working with NASA, operations areunderway to achieve the goal of lunar travel by 2024. The project Artemis marksintentions to create an ongoing presence on the surface of the moon. Read moreabout the project here [https://www.space.com/artemis-program.html]. Did you know? Inflight, the Apollo 17 crew took one of the most iconic photographs inspace-program history, the full view of the Earth dubbed "The Blue Marble." Seeit below. Photo credit: NASA.