Swimmers assist Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene A. Cernan,
left, Ronald E. Evans, and Harrison H. “Jack” Schmitt in
the life raft. (NASA Image)

The Apollo Lunar-Landing program came to an
end on December 19, 1972, when the last three
astronauts to travel to the moon splashed
down safely in the  Pacific Ocean.

Apollo 17 had lifted off from Cape Canaveral,
Florida 10 days before.

        

         
         
       

The Soviet Union launched the first animal to orbit the earth
into space—a dog nicknamed Laika—aboard the Sputnik 2
spacecraft.

Laika (above) part Siberian husky, lived as a stray on the
Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space
program.

Electrodes attached to her body provided scientists on the
ground with important information about the biological
effects of space travel. She died from overheating and
panic.

Model of Sputnik 2 at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
in Moscow.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 – October 28, 2022)
was an American pianist, singer and songwriter.

Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock ‘n’
roll‘s first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll
and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings
in 1952.
 

An optimistic and upbeat President John F. Kennedy
suggested the Soviet Union and the United States
cooperate on a mission to mount an expedition to
the moon. The proposal caught both the Soviets
and many Americans off guard.

In 1961, shortly after his election as president, John
F. Kennedy announced that he was determined to
win the “space race” with the Soviets.

Kennedy toured Cape Canaveral, Fla. with rocket scientist Werner von Braun (left) on Nov. 16, 1963.

Future President Jimmy Carter filed a report with the
International UFO Bureau on September 18, 1973,
claiming he had seen an Unidentified Flying Object
(UFO) in October 1969.

During the presidential campaign of 1976, Democratic
challenger Carter was forthcoming about his belief that
he had seen a UFO. He described waiting outside for a
Lion’s Club Meeting in Leary, Georgia, to begin, at about
7:30 p.m., when he spotted what he called “the darndest
thing I’ve ever seen” in the sky.