September 9, 1995
On the day you were born, the universe was already ancient beyond measure — and yet, in all those billions of years, it had never once...
The Last Moon Shot
Birthday · September 9, 1995
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published September 9, 1995. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
September 9, 1995 The Last Moon Shot Credit: NASA, The Apollo Program Explanation: In 1865 Jules Verne predicted the invention of a space capsule that could carry people. In his science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon", he outlined his vision of constructing a cannon in Florida so powerful that it could shoot a "Projectile-Vehicle" carrying three adventurers to the Moon. Over 100 years later, NASA, guided by Wernher Von Braun's vision, produced the Saturn V rocket. This rocket turned Verne's fiction into fact, launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts to walk on the Moon. Pictured above is the last moon shot, Apollo 17, awaiting a night launch in December of 1972. Spot lights play on the rocket and launch pad while the full Moon looms in the background. Humans have not walked on the lunar surface since. Should we return to the Moon?