When Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke stepped onto the Moon in April 1972, he was carrying more than equipment, scientific instruments and supplies. He also had a small family photograph with him — a picture of his wife and two young sons that would ultimately become one of the most personal objects left behind on the lunar surface.
Duke, who served as the lunar module pilot on NASA's Apollo 16 mission, placed the framed photograph on the Moon before returning to Earth. On the back, he had written a short but unforgettable message identifying the people in the image as being “from Planet Earth.”
