Why has it taken so long to return to the Moon?

The conclusion of the Apollo 17 journey in 1972 marked not only the end of a mission, but the close of an era. Half a century later, Nasa is preparing to return under its Artemis programme

For the Artemis II mission, four astronauts will travel in a loop around the Moon in Nasa’s next-generation Orion crew capsule. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

At 13:24:59 Central Standard Time on December 19, 1972, the Apollo 17 command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, about 350 nautical miles south-east of Samoa, concluding the last mission to the Moon.

During his career, Apollo 17’s commander, Eugene A. Cernan, logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space, of which more than 73 hours were spent on the surface of the Moon. Cernan was the second American to have walked in space, and the last person to leave his footprints on the surface of the Moon.