Apollo 17 astronaut. US astronaut and geologist Dr Harrison Schmitt exploring the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon, as part of NASA's Apollo 17 mission. He landed on the Moon on 11 December 1972, with mission commander Eugene Cernan. They spent 75 hours on the surface. Ron Evans remained in orbit in the command module. Dr Schmitt is the only scientist to have landed on the Moon. Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission, and Schmitt and Cernan are the last people to have walked on the Moon. A total of 12 US astronauts walked on the Moon during the eleven manned Apollo missions, from 1968-1972.