But as Earl Swift brilliantly uncovers, in so many ways the earlier missions were but a prelude for the final acts for while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin trod a chunk of flat lunar plain smaller than a football field, the final three Apollos each commanded a mountainous area the size of Manhattan-traveling miles across the broken, desolate lunar surface, conducting experiments, and collecting more than a quarter-ton of prized geologic samples. Over the decades since, the achievements of these astronauts have dimmed in the shadow cast by the first Moon landing, Apollo 11. The tracks were left by crews of the last three manned missions to the Moon-Apollos 15, 16, and 17. The ends of these trails mark the farthest extremes to which mankind has ventured, the limits of a species that was born to wander. They are found on the Moon, where fifty-six miles of car tracks lie nearly perfectly preserved, etched into the lunar landscape almost exactly as they were left nearly a half-century ago. The most enduring tire tracks in the universe lie not on any highway, remote desert trail, or indeed anywhere on Earth. In this follow-up to the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Chesapeake Requiem, Earl Swift rediscovers the final three Apollo Moon landings, arguing that these overlooked missions-distinguished by the use of the revolutionary Lunar Roving Vehicle-were the pinnacle of human exploration.
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