KSC-72PC-0440

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot Harrison H. Schmitt, left, scoops soil samples into a specimen bag held by Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan during a mock lunar surface training exercise conducted at the Kennedy Space Center. Schmitt and Cernan are scheduled to remain on the lunar surface 75 hours, leaving their lunar module spacecraft three times to explore the Moon’s Taurus-Littrow region. Launch of the Apollo Saturn V spacecraft vehicle, also with Astronaut Command Module Pilot Ronald E. Evans onboard, is scheduled no earlier than December 6, 1972. Photo credit: NASA