Harrison Schmitt
Apollo 17 geologist-astronaut; last scientist to walk on the Moon, December 1972.
Last refreshed: 5 April 2026
What made Schmitt’s 1972 Moon walk unique among all Apollo astronauts?
Latest on Harrison Schmitt
- Is Harrison Schmitt still alive?
- Yes. Schmitt was 90 years old at the time of the Artemis II mission in April 2026, having been born on 3 July 1935.
- Why was Harrison Schmitt the last scientist on the Moon?
- Schmitt was the only professional scientist (geologist) selected for a lunar landing. After Apollo 17 in 1972 no crewed mission returned to the Moon for over 50 years.Source:
Background
Harrison “Jack” Schmitt is a geologist and former NASA astronaut who flew on Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo lunar landing. He and Commander Eugene Cernan spent 75 hours on the lunar surface at Taurus-Littrow valley, with Schmitt collecting the 110 kg of samples returned by Apollo 17, more than any other mission. Schmitt remains the only professional scientist ever to walk on the Moon.
Schmitt travelled to the Moon aboard the Command Module piloted by Ronald Evans, who orbited while Schmitt and Cernan worked on the surface. Apollo 17’s sphere of lunar gravitational influence was crossed for the first time by a crewed spacecraft since that mission when Artemis II’s Orion reached 322,000 km from Earth on Day 5.
After NASA, Schmitt served as a Republican US Senator for New Mexico (1977–1983). He has been publicly sceptical of mainstream climate science in later years, a position that has drawn criticism given his scientific credentials. He was 90 years old at the time of the Artemis II mission.