Explanation:
Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module
Challenger
was designed for flight in the vacuum of space.
This picture from command module
America,
shows Challenger's ascent stage in lunar orbit.
Small reaction control thrusters are at the sides of
the
moonship with the bell of the
ascent rocket engine underneath.
The hatch allowing
access
to the lunar surface is seen at the front,
with a round radar antenna at the top.
Mission commander Gene Cernan is just visible through
the dark, triangular winodw.
This spaceship performed gracefully, landing on the Moon
and
returning the Apollo astronauts to the orbiting command module
in December of 1972.
So where is Challenger now?
Its descent stage
remains at the
Apollo 17 landing site, Taurus-Littrow.
The ascent stage was intentionally crashed nearby
after being jettisoned from the command module prior to
the
astronauts' return to planet Earth.
Apollo 17's mission
was the sixth and last time astronauts
have landed on the Moon.
