APOLLO 17: THE LAST CREWED MOON LANDING

It's been over 50 years since the final Apollo mission, so why haven't we put astronauts on the Moon since then?

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NASA's chief historian, Dr Brian Odom, has worked at NASA for over ten years. Studying at both the University of Alabama and Middle Tennessee State University, he is a doctor of philosophy and public history. He's also co-editor of the book NASA and the Long Civil Rights Movement.

What led to NASA's decision not to send any more Apollo missions to the Moon after Apollo 17?

Well, it all has to do with two things: number one was the goals of the Apollo program. One of the goals was to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth. And we had gone beyond that. Great science had been accomplished, you know, but the objectives of Apollo were being met. Initially, there were several Apollo missions planned beyond 17. There was Apollo 18, 19 and 20. But what began to happen was, after you've achieved the objective, sustaining that beyond that was difficult in the face of budgetary constraints. In America you had Lyndon Johnson's Great Society program, you had an economic crisis in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. But you also had the Vietnam War that was going on, you know, there was a lot of geopolitical instability. Things were competing for budget.