On this day 40 years ago, America left the Moon

Image obtained from GeneCernan.com.

Captain Eugene A. Cernan, USN, a Chicago native, was the last man on the Moon. As he stood at the base of the Lunar Lander before climbing in for the last time he made this statement, "[A]s I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come - but we believe not too long into the future - I'd like to just (say) what 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.'"

How long is too long?

At 5:55 p.m. EST on December 14, 1972, Cernan and Harrison Schmitt (a professional geologist), blasted off from the lunar surface in the ascent stage of the Lunar Module Challenger.

America had left the Moon.

Our future has been on hold ever since.

Of course, you may not have come here to be challenged this morning; you want to know about today's microminiholidayettes. Well, it's Monkey Day, National Salesperson Day, and National Bouillabaisse Day.

Celebrate any or all if you wish. But our thoughts are on the abandoned Moon today, and the future we should have had.