A very rare and unreleased photograph of man’s last deep space spacewalk, performed by Ronald Evans at the greatest distance from any planetary body, drifted alone in the cold and infinite expanse. The CSM America was approximately 180,000 miles from Earth during the homeward journey when Harrison Schmitt captured this photograph immortalizing the last EVA of the Apollo program from the open hatch of the Command Module. All subsequent manned space missions and EVAs occurred in Earth orbit. Evans is holding a handrail on the Service Module, and his body is extended over the open SIM (Scientific Instrument Module) bay. He is retrieving film cassettes from the lunar sounder, mapping camera and panoramic camera. “Adrift between the Earth and the Moon, Ron Evans retrieved the film canister of the mapping cameras on the day after Apollo 17 left lunar orbit. His spacewalk lasted an hour. Evan’s oxygen was fed from the spacecraft through the umbilical hose, with an emergency supply on his back. I was in the open hatch to help in retrieval, which was necessary because the Service Module would be jettisoned before we reentered the Earth’s atmosphere.” Harrison Schmitt (NASA SP-250, p. 280).

“You’re not really a spaceman when you’re in the confines of your spaceship. You go outside, and you’re hanging on, maneuvering out there from the safety and security of our mother ship. If you ever want to be a spaceman, that’s the way to do it!” Ron Evans (Chaikin, Voices, p. 122).