From left: Schmitt, Evans and Cernan, pose in the moon rover

Apollo 17 was the final mission of the U.S. Apollo lunar landing program, and
was the sixth and last landing of humans on the Moon. Launched at 12:33 am
Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, with a three-member
consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald
Evans and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, It was the last use of Apollo 
hardware for its original mission. After Apollo 17, extra Apollo spacecraft were
used in the Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project programs.

The Apollo 17 mission was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight
and the final crewed launch of a Saturn V rocket.

Carlota Bradley

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012)

Brubeck was told to go to the College of the Pacific’s conservatory by his
zoologist professor when it became clear that his heart wasn’t in veterinary
science. He was almost expelled from the conservatory because he couldn’t
read music.

(L-R) James Lovell and Frank Borman

Gemini 7 was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASA‘s Gemini program. It was
the fourth manned Gemini flight, the twelfth manned American flight and the
twentieth manned spaceflight including Soviet flights and X-15 flights above
the Kármán line. The crew of Frank F. Borman, II and James A. Lovell, Jr
spent nearly 14 days in space, making a total of 206 orbits. Gemini 7 was
the longest manned space flight in U.S. history until the Skylab missions of
the 1970s, and held the record for the longest space flight until Soyuz 9 in
June 1970.

Enos the chimp is being prepared for the launching of the
Mercury 5 spacecraft on this day in 1961. 

Apollo 12 command module just before splash down