After stowing his equipment and watching astronaut Jack Schmitt climb aboard the Apollo 17 lunar module Challenger, Gene Cernan stood as the last man on the moon. Before he boarded Challenger on December 14, 1972 for the long ride home to Earth, he spoke these words: "As I take man's last steps from the surface, back home for some time to come--but we believe not too long into the future--I believe history will record that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And as we leave the moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."