Apollo 17 Splashes Down AccuratelyIn Successful Finale to Moon Project

By JOHNNOBLEWILFORDSpecial to New York Times

HOUSTON, Dec. 19

Apollo exploration of the moon ,one of the great achievementsof all time, came to a successful conclusion today with thesplashdown of the Apollo 17astronauts in the waters of thePacific Ocean.

Capt. Eugene A. Cernan andComdr. Ronald E Evans of the

Navy and Dr. Harrison H.

Schmitt, a geologist, rode their

Text of President's statementis printed on Page 30.

America to a safeand accurate return from the

moon at 2:25 P.M. Eastern

standard tinic .

In less than an hour, thethree astronauts

and flown by helicopter tothe deck of the U.S.S. Ticonderoga , an aircraft carrierwhich was on station about 400milcs southcast of AmericanSamoa

After the traditional bandmusic and brief welcomingspecches, Captain Cernan, whocommanded the 12 day mission, said:

"We think we flew a goodmission , we think we accomplished something , and,by golly ,

proud of it "Recalling thoughts had

after a previous mission, Captain Cernan continued:

"Nothing is impossible in this

, when dedicated peopleare involved. And it's a fundamental law of nature, that either you must grow, or youmust . that be anidea, that be a man ,whether that be a flower or acountry , I thank God that ourcountry has chosen to grow ."

Kennedy Pledge in 1961Apollo 17 was the final mis

sion in a project that PresidentKennedy initiated in May, 1961,with the pledge that " this nation should commit itself toachieving the goal, before thisdecade is out, of landing a manon the moon and returning himsafely to earth ."

The goal was reached in July ,

1969 , when Apollo 11 landed on

the Sea of Tranquility and Neil

A. Armstrong and Col. Edwin E.Aldrin of the Air Force took

man's first steps on anotherworld .

In a statement today, the Na.

tional Acronautics and Space

Administration said that Apollo

17 was " the last , longest andmost successful of seven

manned lunar landing missions"in the $ 25 -billion project .

President Nixon, in a statement released in Washingtonand at the Manned Spacecraft

said that Apollo17's "marks the

of one of the most signifiContinued on Page 30, Column 1 Associated Press

The Apollo 17 module , parachutes open , splashes down

Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt , left, Comdr. Ronald E. Evans,Nows via Press International

center , and Capt . Eugene A. Cernan aboard the carrier

The York TimesPublished: December 20, 1972

Copyright © The New York Times

Mrs. Eugene A. Cernan as

she saw the splashdownon TV at Cernan home.

Associalcd Press

At Mission Control in Houston , Christopher Craft , at left in front row , director of the Manned Spacecraft Center ;Gerald D. Griffin, center , and Eugene F. Kranz , right, flight directors , applauded Apollo 17 splashdown .

Apollo 17 Splashes DowninFinale to Moon Project

United Press InternationalMrs. Ronald E Evans reacts to the splashdownas she views TV at home.

Continued From 1, Col.

end of one of the most significant chapters in the history ofhuman endeavor."

Drawing attention to the nation's future space plans, President Nixon added :

" The making of space historywill continue, and this nation

means to play a major role in

its making."Although the program

was curtailed somewhat for

hudgetary reasons, the United

States plans to launch Skylab,its first carth -orbiting spacestation , which is to be occupiedby three crews of astronauts

over a period of cight months.

Beginning next spring, the menare scheduled to work in the

vehicle for up to 56 days at a

stretch, the longest test ofman's endurance in space .

Later in the decade, the nation has plans to test a spacecraft system known as theshuttle. It will be used to ferrymen and satellites into and outof earth orbit in vehicles thatwould be reuscable and thusless expensive to operate .

At a news conference here

after splashdown, George M., deputy administrator

NASA, said :

Man has learned that spaceis his to cxplore, and manwillreturn to space to explore, tothe moon and beyond. "

Christopher C. Kraft, directorof the Manned Spacecraft Cen

, described Apollo 17 asperfect mission

Almost nothing went wrongwith the spacecraft during thevoyage of nearly a millionmiles , and the astronauts fulfilled all their scientific objectives .

Captain Cernan and Dr.

Schmitt, the first scientists toto go into space, spent threedays on the moon at their

Taurus -Littrow landing site, avalley southeast of the

Sea of Serenity. They conductedcxcursions outside their landing

craft , collecting samples andestablishing a scientific station .

Scientists here believe thatthe astronauts may have gathered both the oldest and youngest lunar samples ever examined

by men . And the orange soilthat the astronauts discoveredat Shorty Crater may representevidence of lunar volcanic activity

the spacecraft that splasheddown were 249 pounds of lunarsamples . The rocks, along withthe astronauts, will be flown toHouston Thursday morning .

The Apollo 17 astronautsawoke to the last day of their

mission at when the- pound spaceship Was

49,000 miles from earth andtraveling 6,100 miles an hour.

Slight Course Correction

Mission Control directed thecrew to conduct a slight mid

correction maneuverfiring the spaceship's smallthruster rockets for nine sec

onds. Apollo 17 had flown allthe way from the moon , nearly240,000 miles away , withoutany other aim -refining maneuver

The rocket firing went onschedule and pointed the spaceship's rc- entry angle a refinement of two -tenths of a degree

a 6.5 degree angle .With too sharp an angle , the

spaceship could break apart ,from the jarring forces of reentry into the atmosphere. Too

an angle , and thespaceship could skip off theupper layer of atmosphere and

fly off into space , beyond rescue

About 15 minutes before reentry, the astronauts jettisonedthe rear service module thecylindrical structure housingthe spaceship's rocket,

scientific instruments and oxygen supply . were then leftwith only their command module and its limited reserves ofoxygen and battery power .

Soon after 17 hit the

atmosphere, communications and trouped out again tobetween the spaceship and write their articles .

carth blacked out, as expected , On the closed -circuit television from Mission Control, the

because of the build-up of a consoles were shown to be unsheath of intense heat around occupied. The camera focusedthe capsule. on the emblem of Apollo 17

But radar on the Ticonderoga The Greek god Apollo, theAmerican eagle and the moon-established contact with the which had just been mounted

spaceship , and all was well. on the wall .Then Captain Cernan's voice Under the emblem of Apollo

17 were the words:came through, and he was say " Culmination of the beginninging: of mankind's greatest achieve

"Feels like we're on a merry ments in space.go -round.

At the time, the astronautswere a force three timesthat of earth gravity pressingupon their bodies. The peakgravity load for them wasabout six to seven times earthgravity , the result of the speeding spacecraft being sloweddown abruptly by the everthickening atmosphere.

With four and a half minutes to go, the three sinall

parachutes ha d already beendeployed to brake further Apollo17's descent. The three mainparachutes had already beendiameter, unfurled just beforethe spaceship came into television view from the aircraftcarrier .

At splashdown , Captain Cernan radioed the recovery

forces , All is well on board ."Helicopters the three

astronauts to the deck of thecarrier. The band played. The

speeches of welcome were delivered.

It was over--Apollo 17 andtheentireproject.

At Mission Control here,flight controllers stood uptheir consoles, stretched andlit the traditional cigars. Theyhad been a part of history,

and they knew it, and knewthat their years of effort werenow in the hands of history .

In the news room nearby, reporters the final messagetransmitted out of Mission Control This is Apollo Control,out," and, almost reluctantly ,they trouped into the last brief

The NewYork TimesPublished: December 20, 1972

Copyright © The New York Times