If anyone can offer advice to the four NASA astronauts slated to launch Wednesday on a trip around the moon, it\u2019s Harrison Schmitt. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Subscribe to read this story ad-free <\/p>\n
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.<\/p>\n
![\"arrow\"](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/rockcms\/2026-01\/arrow-f55fa5.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n
Schmitt, 90, left his bootprints on the lunar surface in 1972, as part of Apollo 17 \u2014 the final mission in the program, which was the last time humans traveled to the moon.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission, which is scheduled to lift off as early as 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, aims to kick-start a new era of lunar exploration. The crew plans to circle the moon as a step toward a lunar landing in 2028 (similar to the way Apollo 8’s flight around the moon paved the way for Apollo 11).<\/p>\n
Schmitt expects the Artemis II astronauts to see some of the same otherworldly sights he did more than a half century ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, every hour, every minute, is a new experience,\u201d Schmitt said in an interview with NBC News. <\/p>\n
![\"Harrison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260331-Harrison-Schmitt-vl-1259p-55299a.jpg\")
Schmitt today.NBC News<\/p>\n
As for what he\u2019d tell the Artemis II crew: \u201cMake sure that you\u2019ve got your training down pat. Be ready for anything unexpected, but have a great time. Enjoy it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Much has changed since Apollo 17. Schmitt and his fellow crew members were part of a space race against the Soviet Union. Today, NASA is competing with China, which hopes to land its own astronauts on the moon in 2030.<\/p>\n
The Apollo 17 astronauts spent nearly 13 days in space \u2014 more than three of those on the lunar surface. They notched the highest total distance traveled on the moon, driving a lunar rover a total of about 19 miles. They also gathered more geology samples than any other moon mission, bringing 243 pounds<\/a> back to Earth. <\/p>\n Schmitt said he won\u2019t forget entering lunar orbit in the dark, on the far side of the moon that faces away from Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were landing on the east side of the moon, and the sun was just barely coming up,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cGoing into the dark of the moon was really something, because one of the things that you notice right away is the moon is illuminated by Earth light. There\u2019s a bluish tint to the light.\u201d <\/p>\n The Artemis II astronauts will get better glimpses of the moon\u2019s far side than Apollo crews did.<\/p>\n \u201cIt turns out there\u2019s about 60% of the far side, I think, that has never been seen by human eyes because of the lighting conditions,\u201d Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, said in a media briefing on Friday. \u201cApollo always wanted that light on the front side of the moon for their landing and launch capability \u2026 We\u2019ve seen it in satellite photos, but humans have never, ever seen that before. That\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Apollo 17\u2019s conclusion represented, for decades, the end of U.S. ambitions to maintain a human presence on the moon. NASA\u2019s budget shrank in the 1970s, additional Apollo missions were canceled and the U.S. prioritized work on space stations. <\/p>\n Unlike the Apollo program, NASA\u2019s long-term goal with Artemis goes beyond brief visits to the moon. The space agency hopes to build a lunar base to facilitate long-term stays, then eventually use that base as a stepping stone to Mars.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t surprise me in somebody else\u2019s lifetime to see people there for months and years and actually have an actual settlement on the moon,\u201d Schmitt said. \u201cMars is attainable, and I think we will keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Why is he so sure? \u201cWe\u2019re humans, that\u2019s what we\u2019ve always done,\u201d Schmitt said.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the time that the human race began in Africa to the present, it\u2019s always expanded. It\u2019s part of our being, our psychology,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n![\"Harrison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260331-Harrison-Schmitt-vl-1239p-b35050.jpg\")
Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot, aboard the Lunar Module LM prior to its liftoff from the Moon’s surface, in 1972.Eugene A. Cernan \/ NASA<\/p>\n![\"Harrison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260331-Harrison-Schmitt-vl-2-1146a-13c016.jpg\")
Schmitt stands near the U.S. flag on the lunar surface during extravehicular activity on Dec. 13, 1972.JSC \/ NASA<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260331-Harrison-Schmitt-vl-3-1146a-8feef6.jpg\")
The Apollo 17 crew saw this view of Earth as they traveled toward the moon on Dec. 7, 1972.JSC \/ NASA<\/p>\n![\"Harrison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260331-Harrison-Schmitt-vl-1145a-557f55.jpg\")
Schmitt undergoes training in the Lunar Module Simulator at Kennedy Space Center ahead of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.NASA<\/p>\n