Editing Apollo 17 (section)

== Aftermath and spacecraft locations ==
[[File:Apollo 17 CM Houston.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Apollo 17 command module ''America'', on display at [[Space Center Houston]]]]
[[File:Apollo 17 landing site, labeled.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]] image of the Apollo 17 mission site taken in 2011, the ''Challenger'' descent stage is in the center, the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]] appears in the lower right.]]

Following their mission, the crew undertook both domestic and international tours, visiting 29 states and 11 countries. The tour kicked off at [[Super Bowl VII]], with the crew leading the crowd in the [[Pledge of Allegiance]]; the CM ''America'' was also displayed during the pregame activities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Kaitlyn |date=January 4, 2023 |title=50 Years Ago: Apollo 17 Post Mission Activities |url=http://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-apollo-17-post-mission-activities |access-date=March 31, 2023 |publisher=NASA |archive-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130200417/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-apollo-17-post-mission-activities/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

None of the Apollo 17 astronauts flew in space again.{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|pp=587–588, 591}} Cernan retired from NASA and the Navy in 1976. He died in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eugene Andrew Cernan 14 March 1934 – 16 January 2017|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=January 7, 2022|date=January 17, 2017|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-c/Cernan-Eugene.html|archive-date=January 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108224933/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-c/Cernan-Eugene.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Evans retired from the Navy in 1976 and from NASA in 1977, entering the private sector. He died in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ronald Ellwin Evans 10 November 1933 – 7 April 1990|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=January 7, 2022|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-e/evans-ronald.html|date=November 16, 2016|archive-date=January 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107181639/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-e/evans-ronald.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Schmitt resigned from NASA in 1975 prior to [[1976 United States Senate election in New Mexico|his successful run]] for a [[United States Senate]] seat from New Mexico in 1976. There, he served one six-year term.<ref>{{cite web |title=SCHMITT, Harrison Hagan |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000132 |website=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611100114/https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000132 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Command Module ''America'' is currently on display at [[Space Center Houston]] at the [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]] in Houston, Texas.<ref name=currentloc>{{cite web|title=Apollo: Where are they now?|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apolloloc.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=August 26, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110717164926/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apolloloc.html| archive-date=July 17, 2011| url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/spacecraft/location/cm.cfm|title=Location of Apollo Command Modules|publisher=National Air and Space Museum|access-date=August 27, 2019|archive-date=June 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601052353/https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/spacecraft/location/cm.cfm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ascent stage of Lunar Module ''Challenger'' impacted the Moon on December 15, 1972, at 06:50:20.8 UTC (1:50&nbsp;a.m. EST), at {{Coord|19.96|N|30.50|E|globe:Moon|name=Apollo 17 LM ascent stage}}.<ref name=currentloc/> The descent stage remains on the Moon at the landing site, {{Coord|20.19080|N|30.77168|E|globe:Moon|name=Apollo 17 LM descent stage}}.{{sfn|Orloff 2004|loc=Apollo 17: The Eleventh Mission}} In 2023, a study of Apollo-era data from the Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment showed that the descent stage was causing very slight tremors each lunar morning as components expanded in the heat.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Caltech]]|title=The lunar alarm clock: new study characterizes regular Moonquakes|date=September 7, 2023|url=https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/the-lunar-alarm-clock-new-study-characterizes-regular-moonquakes|accessdate=September 15, 2023|archive-date=September 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913105515/https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/the-lunar-alarm-clock-new-study-characterizes-regular-moonquakes|url-status=live}}</ref>

Eugene Cernan's flown Apollo 17 spacesuit is in the collection of the Smithsonian's [[National Air and Space Museum]] (NASM), where it was transferred in 1974,<ref>{{cite web |title=Pressure Suit, A7-LB, Cernan, Apollo 17, Flown |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/pressure-suit-a7-lb-cernan-apollo-17-flown/nasm_A19740133000 |publisher=National Air and Space Museum |access-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105012334/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/pressure-suit-a7-lb-cernan-apollo-17-flown/nasm_A19740133000 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Harrison Schmitt's is in storage at NASM's Paul E. Garber Facility. Amanda Young of NASM indicated in 2004 that Schmitt's suit is in the best condition of the flown Apollo lunar spacesuits, and therefore is not on public display.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jack Schmitt's Apollo 17 Suit|url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/A17HHS-Flown-Suit.html|publisher=NASA|editor-first=Eric M.|editor-last=Jones|editor2-first=Ken|editor2-last=Glover|work=Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal|access-date=January 5, 2022|archive-date=April 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421204427/https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/A17HHS-Flown-Suit.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ron Evans' spacesuit was also transferred from NASA in 1974 to the collection of the NASM; it remains in storage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pressure Suit, A7-LB, Evans, Apollo 17, Flown |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/pressure-suit-a7-lb-evans-apollo-17-flown/nasm_A19740135000 |publisher=National Air and Space Museum |access-date=February 18, 2022 |archive-date=February 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218192041/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/pressure-suit-a7-lb-evans-apollo-17-flown/nasm_A19740135000 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since Apollo 17's return, there have been attempts to photograph the landing site, where the LM's descent stage, LRV and some other mission hardware, remain. In 2009 and again in 2011, the [[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]] photographed the landing site from increasingly low orbits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html |title=NASA Spacecraft Images Offer Sharper Views of Apollo Landing Sites |last1=Neal-Jones |first1=Nancy |last2=Zubritsky |first2=Elizabeth |last3=Cole |first3=Steve |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |date=September 6, 2011 |publisher=NASA |id=Goddard Release No. 11-058 (co-issued as NASA HQ Release No. 11-289) |access-date=July 24, 2013 |archive-date=June 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602041001/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At least one group has indicated an intention to visit the site as well; in 2018, the German space company [[PTScientists]] said that it planned to land two lunar rovers nearby.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mission-to-the-moon.com/press-release/ |title=Mission to the Moon |access-date=January 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205091832/https://mission-to-the-moon.com/press-release/ |archive-date=December 5, 2018 |publisher=PTScientists |url-status=dead }}</ref>