Editing Apollo 17 (section)

==Mission insignia and call signs==
The insignia's most prominent feature is an image of the Greek sun god [[Apollo]] backdropped by a rendering of an [[Bald eagle|American eagle]], the red bars on the eagle mirroring those on the [[U.S. flag]]. Three white stars above the red bars represent the three crewmembers of the mission. The background includes the Moon, the planet [[Saturn]], and a galaxy or nebula. The wing of the eagle partially overlays the Moon, suggesting humanity's established presence there.<ref name=insignia>{{cite web|title=Apollo Mission Insignias|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-18_Mission_Insignias.htm|publisher=NASA|access-date=August 25, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110721234247/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-18_Mission_Insignias.htm| archive-date=July 21, 2011| url-status= live}}</ref>

[[File:Apollo 17 Flown Silver Robbins Medallion (SN-F39).jpg|thumb|200px|left|Apollo 17 space-flown silver [[NASA space-flown Robbins medallions of the Apollo missions|Robbins medallion]]|alt=The Apollo seventeen emblem containing Apollo, an eagle made of lines, the Moon, and Saturn; around the outside of the emblem the text Apollo XVII, and then the names Cernan, Evans, and Schmitt.]]
The insignia includes, along with the colors of the U.S. flag (red, white, and blue), the color gold, representative of a "golden age" of spaceflight that was to begin with Apollo 17.<ref name=insignia/> The image of Apollo in the mission insignia is a rendering of the ''[[Apollo Belvedere]]'' sculpture in the [[Vatican Museums]]. It looks forward into the future, towards the celestial objects shown in the insignia beyond the Moon. These represent humanity's goals, and the image symbolizes human intelligence, wisdom and ambition. The insignia was designed by artist [[Robert McCall (artist)|Robert McCall]], based on ideas from the crew.{{sfn|Lattimer 1985|p=93}}

In deciding the call signs for the command module (CM) and [[Apollo Lunar Module|lunar module]] (LM), the crew wished to pay tribute to the American public for their support of the Apollo program, and to the mission, and wanted names with a tradition within American history. The CM was given the call sign "America". According to Cernan, this evoked the 19th century sailing ships which were given that name, and was a thank-you to the people of the United States. The crew selected the name "Challenger" for the LM in lieu of an alternative, "Heritage". Cernan stated that the selected name "just seemed to describe more of what the future for America really held, and that was a challenge".{{sfn|Lattimer 1985|p=94}} After Schmitt stepped onto the Moon from ''Challenger'', he stated, "I think the next generation ought to accept this as a challenge. Let's see them leave footprints like these."{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|p=509}}