Editing Apollo 17 (section)

== Crew and key Mission Control personnel ==
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology      =[[Astronaut]]
|references       = <ref name=nasmcrew>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/as17/a17crew.htm |title=Apollo 17 Crew |work=The Apollo Program |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705123015/http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/as17/a17crew.htm |archive-date=July 5, 2011 |url-status=dead |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref>
|position1        = Commander
|crew1_up         = [[Gene Cernan|Eugene A. Cernan]]
|flights1_up      = Third and last
|position2        = Command Module Pilot (CMP)
|crew2_up         = [[Ronald Evans (astronaut)|Ronald E. Evans]]
|flights2_up      = Only
|position3        = Lunar Module Pilot (LMP)
|crew3_up         = [[Harrison Schmitt|Harrison H. Schmitt]]
|flights3_up      = Only
}}

In 1969, NASA announced<ref name="a17pre">{{cite web|url=http://next.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.prepdi.html|title=A Running Start – Apollo 17 up to Powered Descent Initiation|publisher=NASA|editor-first=Eric M.|editor-last=Jones|editor2-first=Ken|editor2-last=Glover|work=Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320233958/http://next.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.prepdi.html|archive-date=March 20, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=August 25, 2011}}</ref> that the backup crew of [[Apollo 14]] would be Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and former [[North American X-15|X-15]] pilot [[Joe Engle]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Apollo 14 Crew |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo14-crew.cfm |website=The Apollo Program |publisher=National Air and Space Museum |access-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208002532/https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo14-crew.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Astronauts – Craters of the Moon |url=https://www.nps.gov/crmo/learn/historyculture/astronauts.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208002530/https://www.nps.gov/crmo/learn/historyculture/astronauts.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> This put them in line to be the prime crew of Apollo 17, because the Apollo program's crew rotation generally meant that a backup crew would fly as prime crew three missions later. Harrison Schmitt, who was a professional geologist as well as an astronaut, had served on the backup crew of [[Apollo 15]], and thus, because of the rotation, would have been due to fly as lunar module pilot on Apollo 18.{{sfn|Wilhelms 1993|pp=309–310}}

In September 1970, [[Canceled Apollo missions|the plan to launch Apollo 18 was cancelled]]. The scientific community pressed NASA to assign a geologist, rather than a pilot with non-professional geological training, to an Apollo landing. NASA subsequently assigned Schmitt to Apollo 17 as the lunar module pilot. After that, NASA's director of flight crew operations, [[Deke Slayton]], was left with the question of who would fill the two other Apollo 17 slots: the rest of the Apollo 15 backup crew ([[Richard F. Gordon Jr.|Dick Gordon]] and [[Vance D. Brand|Vance Brand]]), or Cernan and Evans from the Apollo 14 backup crew. Slayton ultimately chose Cernan and Evans.<ref name="a17pre"/> Support at NASA for assigning Cernan was not unanimous. Cernan had crashed a [[Bell 47|Bell 47G helicopter]] into the [[Indian River (Florida)|Indian River]] near [[Cape Canaveral|Cape Kennedy]] during a training exercise in January 1971; the accident was later attributed to pilot error, as Cernan had misjudged his altitude before crashing into the water. [[James McDivitt|Jim McDivitt]], who was manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at the time, objected to Cernan's selection because of this accident, but Slayton dismissed the concern.<ref name="Cernan-Helo-1971">{{Cite web |title=The Helicopter that Fell to Earth, Gene Cernan's Bell 47 Crash, January 23, 1971 |url=https://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Cernan-Helo-1971.htm |access-date=2008-02-03 |website=www.check-six.com}}</ref> After Cernan was offered command of the mission, he advocated for Engle to fly with him on the mission, but it was made clear to him that Schmitt would be assigned instead, with or without Cernan, so he acquiesced.{{sfn|Kraft 2002|pp=346–348}}<ref>{{cite news |title=News – Released at NASA Headquarters |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83123main_1971.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2022 |publisher=Manned Spacecraft Center: Public Information Offie |date=October 18, 1971 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228041703/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83123main_1971.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The prime crew of Apollo 17 was publicly announced on August 13, 1971.<ref name=crewannounce>{{cite news |title=News – MSC 71-56 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83123main_1971.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2022 |publisher=Manned Spacecraft Center: Public Information Office |date=August 13, 1971 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228041703/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83123main_1971.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

When assigned to Apollo 17,  Cernan was a 38-year-old captain in the [[United States Navy]]; he had been selected in the [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|third group of astronauts]] in 1963, and flown as pilot of [[Gemini 9A]] in 1966 and as lunar module pilot of [[Apollo 10]] in 1969 before he served on Apollo 14's backup crew. Evans, 39 years old when assigned to Apollo 17, had been selected as part of the [[NASA Astronaut Group 5|fifth group of astronauts]] in 1966, and had been a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy. Schmitt, a civilian, was 37 years old when assigned Apollo 17, had a doctorate in geology from [[Harvard University]], and had been selected in the [[NASA Astronaut Group 4|fourth group of astronauts]] in 1965. Both Evans and Schmitt were making their first spaceflights.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|pp=507–508}}

For the backup crews of Apollo 16 and 17, the final Apollo lunar missions, NASA selected astronauts who had already flown Apollo lunar missions, to take advantage of their experience, and avoid investing time and money in training rookies who would be unlikely to ever fly an Apollo mission.{{sfn|Shayler & Burgess 2017|pp=289–290}}{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|p=549}} The original backup crew for Apollo 17, announced at the same time as the prime crew,<ref name=crewannounce/> was the crew of Apollo 15: [[David Scott]] as commander, [[Alfred Worden]] as CMP and [[James Irwin]] as LMP, but in May 1972 they were removed from the backup crew because of their roles in the [[Apollo 15 postal covers incident]].{{sfn|Phinney 2015|p=130}} They were replaced with the landing crew of Apollo 16: [[John Young (astronaut)|John W. Young]] as backup crew commander, [[Charles Duke]] as LMP, and Apollo 14's CMP, [[Stuart Roosa]].{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|pp=507–508}}{{sfn|Slayton & Cassutt 1994|p=279}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=John E. |title=Release No. 72-113: Astronauts Mitchell and Irwin to Retire |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83124main_1972.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83124main_1972.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=January 13, 2022 |publisher=NASA: Manned Spacecraft Center |date=May 23, 1972}}</ref> Originally, Apollo 16's CMP, [[Ken Mattingly]], was to be assigned along with his crewmates, but he declined so he could spend more time with his family, his son having just been born, and instead took an assignment to the [[Space Shuttle]] program.{{sfn|Shayler & Burgess 2017|p=296}} Roosa had also served as backup CMP for Apollo 16.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=471}}

For the Apollo program, in addition to the prime and backup crews that had been used in the Mercury and Gemini programs, NASA assigned a third crew of astronauts, known as the support crew. Their role was to provide any assistance in preparing for the missions that the missions director assigned then. Preparations took place in meetings at facilities across the US and sometimes needed a member of the flight crew to attend them. Because McDivitt was concerned that problems could be created if a prime or backup crew member was unable to attend a meeting, Slayton created the support crews to ensure that someone would be able to attend in their stead.{{sfn|Slayton & Cassutt 1994|p=184}} Usually low in seniority, they also assembled the mission's rules, [[flight plan]] and checklists, and kept them updated;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hersch|first=Matthew|date=July 19, 2009|title=The fourth crewmember|journal=[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]]|access-date=October 4, 2019|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/space/the-fourth-crewmember-37046329/|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202131855/https://www.airspacemag.com/space/the-fourth-crewmember-37046329/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Brooks, Grimwood, & Swenson|1979|p=261}} for Apollo 17, they were [[Robert F. Overmyer]], [[Robert A. Parker]] and [[C. Gordon Fullerton]].{{sfn|Compton 1989|p=377}}

[[Flight controller#Flight director|Flight directors]] were [[Gerry Griffin]], first shift, [[Gene Kranz]] and Neil B. Hutchinson, second shift, and [[Pete Frank]] and Charles R. Lewis, third shift.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=566}} According to Kranz, flight directors during the program Apollo had a one-sentence job description, "The flight director may take any actions necessary for crew safety and mission success."<ref>{{cite news|title=A legendary tale, well-told|access-date=October 5, 2019|last=Williams|first=Mike|url=https://news.rice.edu/2012/09/13/a-legendary-tale-well-told/|publisher=Rice University Office of Public Affairs|date=September 13, 2012|archive-date=August 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817125432/https://news.rice.edu/2012/09/13/a-legendary-tale-well-told/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Flight controller#Spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM)|Capsule communicators]] (CAPCOMs) were Fullerton, Parker, Young, Duke, Mattingly, Roosa, [[Alan Shepard]] and [[Joseph P. Allen]].{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=577}}