while everyone remembers Neil Armstrong and what he said few people visiting the Air and Space Museum today could remember the last man on the moon or anything he said which included this commander Gene Cernan had just accidentally broken one of the mud guards what he called a fender on the lunar rover and that was a big deal because mud guards had been fitted to protect him and his fellow astronaut Harrison Schmitt from the lunar dust their vehicle would churn up as they explored the moon we did get a lot of dust on our suits on
on the solar panels on the radiators heat rejection radiators and the like so it was a bit it was a major problem Apollo 17 was all about driving on the moon and Commander Cernan was a worried man I think he didn't get much sleep that night I kept trying to convince him that Mission Control people would get together they'll figure out how to fix it they made a makeshift mud guard with a laminated map and duct tape and the mission was saved the most remarkable thing about the broken mud guard on Apollo 17 is the
fact that exactly the same thing happened on the previous moon mission Apollo 16 incredibly it happened to Apollo 15 as well it seems bad luck comes in threes even on the moon did he offer you an apology oh no commanders don't apologize for anything [Laughter] Apollo 17 was the last moon mission and while it was mostly a serious business Cernan and Schmitt had fun as well the last two moon Walker's were winding up an epic Apollo program that had showcased both human achievement and fallibilities hey what you have which we do covert health clinical totally
really three two one infant Joan Irvine music ten in Washington eggs you
