Driving on the Moon

Forty years ago today on Dec. 11, 1972, astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander, makes a short checkout of the lunar rover during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. This view of the "stripped down" rover is prior to loading up. Equipment later loaded onto the rover included the ground-controlled television assembly, the lunar communications relay unit, hi-gain antenna, low-gain antenna, aft tool pallet, lunar tools and scientific gear.

This photograph was taken by scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot. The mountain in the right background is the east end of South Massif. While astronauts Cernan and Schmitt descended in the Lunar Module "Challenger" to explore the moon, astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules "America" in lunar orbit.

What ever happened to that cutting edge technology? Just think, back in the day when computers were the size of rooms and a portable computer had less computing power that a wrist watch, vacuum tubes were still used, we sent men to the moon. We did so much with so little technology, why can't we do it today? Why are we re-discovering how to fly to the moon? Why does it cost so much???? Everything we need to go to the moon is here, it just needs to be put together.