In the Apollo Program, everything looked so clean and sterile and "mom and apple pie," in stark contrast to the Francis Darkes, the Lewis and Clarks, and the Edmund Hillarys who explored the far reaches of our planet. In books I've read of historical explorers (try Cabeza de Vaca's "La Relacion" if you want to read about some rough exploring), it's often painfully clear how dirty and uncomfortable explorers were most of the time.That's why I dig this picture of Gene Cernan. I am sure Apollo astronauts get sick of being asked "What was it like to be on the moon?" and I think this picture explains perfectly what it was like. Gene is tired and covered in moondust, but he has such a peculiar expression on his face of pride, exhaustion, and satisfaction. Once I get into the next tax bracket I wouldn't mind buying a really nice large print of this and hanging it up on my wall.
Incidentally, the picture was taken by Harrison Schmitt, the other Apollo Moonwalker on that mission (the second to last person on the moon), and last year I got to see him in the flesh. He came up to the University of Michigan in early 2007 to give a seminar to the aeronautical engineering department. He waxed about the "experience" of being on the moon for about 4 minutes then delved deep into hardcore lunar geology. Mad Scientist Respect. "Cool. We are on the moon. Let's get to work. We have only a short amount of time." It was inspiring being in the same room as the scientist explorer (forgive my sloppy camera work).
I really wanted to ask a question at the end on the future of manned spaceflight, so I could tell my grandkids one day, "Yes, I did speak with one of the moonwalker explorers," but other people were asking him serious geology and mission design questions (the room was full of graduate students and faculty of geology and aero/astro engineering), so out of respect for the scientific environment I sat there listening to it all and soaking it up. Oddly, I e-mailed my whole lab and all the neuroscience students here at Michigan, saying "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! There's only nine of the twelve left, and they're probably going to begin passing on within the next decade!" But only one person (Schlomo, a recent PhD graduate and a previous owner of my car Bopper), came to the talk with me. Some people even told me they couldn't go because they had class, which has got to be the lamest excuse ever. If I were a professor, I would be mad if people actually came to my class if an Apollo astronaut was on campus. S**t, I would cancel class!
Obviously most people aren't as into this stuff as I am, so I can accept that. It actually explains a lot about the current state of NASA among my generation; most people in my age group/demographic (beyond engineers, obviously) simply really don't care that we have a space program at all. Because, let's face it, the shuttle program and space station isn't really that exciting. Even current shuttle crews will admit that they'd rather be out exploring the solar system than circling the Earth. Someday we may all be inspired again, but it may come from the likes of Burt Rutan and the Google X-Prize, even though both are still not as amazing as Apollo was.
As a final point, Harrison Schmitt is most likely the photographer of the most famous, and most used, photograph on the planet. of the planet actually. It's not known for sure, as the entire crew shares credit for every single photograph taken on the mission, but rumor has it Schmitt was the one who clicked the shutter.
This view of Earth had never been seen before by anyone prior to this photograph. The sun was just perfectly behind the spacecraft of Apollo 17, and the Earth was in the just right position, to illuminate the whole hemisphere.
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