The last manned mission to the Moon ended 25 years ago on Friday, when Apollo 17 splashed down in the South Pacific.

Since Neil Armstrong made his "giant step for man" in 1969, 12 men have walked on the Moon.

Schmitt next to US flag on the Moon (Nasa)

The last to step down the ladder on to the dusty surface was geologist Harrison Schmitt.

"My first impressions on landing on the Moon and looking out the window was that we were in a geologist's paradise," he said.

"There were steep mountain walls on either side of us. We were in a deep valley, deeper than the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

"Once outside the spacecraft however, you could get the full 360 degree panorama, looking at a brilliantly-illuminated desert landscape, with the sun as bright as anyone could imagine, but set in a black velvet sky.

"And the only colour visible was that of the blue and white marbled Earth. It really was a remarkable scene, certainly one I will never forget. And one I wish many more people could experience."

Plaque left on the Moon (Nasa)

Mr Schmitt's scientific enthusiasm for the lunar landscape was equalled by that of his excitable colleague Gene Cernan, who discovered orange volcanic rocks.

The Apollo missions brought back a total of 1.5 tonnes of lunar rock - two-thirds of which are yet to be analysed.

Horton Newsom of the University of New Mexico was a child when the missions were under way and is now one of those responsible for that precious lunar legacy.

The biggest scientific dividend from the missions was the revelation from those rocks that the Moon had been created during a cosmic collision between the Earth and a giant piece of space debris 4.5 billion years ago.

But there was, says Mr Newsom, also a more philosophical lesson from the Apollo era.

"The Moon landings were, I think, a pivotal event in the history of mankind. And it wasn't so much that we went to the Moon, but that when the astronauts looked back, they saw the Earth as a single globe.

"And it was the idea that we were all passengers on spaceship Earth. And when you could look back see and see how thin, how ephemeral our little envelope of atmosphere and oceans is on this little Earth, that showed we're very much alone, sitting in a very vulnerable situation. And this idea has echoed through ever since."

Roland Pease, of BBC Science, says what seems incredible now is that for most of the space age, astronauts have not been going to the moon - even though throughout the 1960s, the race to get there had been the most important thing on the scientific agenda.

The public appetite waned, and the last two missions were cancelled.

But rather than waste a perfectly good rocket, which had already been built, Nasa decided to turn space into a forum for peace rather than competition.

So it was that in 1975 Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov took part in the famous Apollo-Soyuz link up, and shook hands in orbit over France with US astronauts Tom Stafford and Deke Slayton.

"When I opened the hatch, I saw Tom Stafford's face - smiling face. I said 'Tom, you are welcome on board Soyuz spacecraft.' Tom said: 'Alexei, hello. We're going to work together for the next four days - are you ready?'

"I said: 'We are ready to work not only for four days. I'm ready to work together all my life, my friend'. And for all my life, I never forget those faces of Tom Stafford and Deke Slayton'."

But the Moon is coming back into favour. In January, Nasa is launching its first dedicated mission to the Moon in 25 years, though there will not be any people on this one, and it will not be landing there.

The new mission, Lunar Prospector, will be making a global map of the Moon's minerals.

Mr Newsom is convinced there will be manned missions again one day and lunar bases.

"One of the exciting things about future lunar exploration is that all of mankind will be able to take part - remotely," he said.

"We can turn on our computers on the Internet, or the television and be there with the future explorers. Even back during the Apollo missions, it was a worldwide phenomenon. With our modern technology we could go right along.

"People will be able to put on virtual reality goggles and actually see what's happening on the Moon as as if they were standing right there."
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©