During NASA's final mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, in December 1972, Commander Eugene Cernan ripped off the rear extension of the rover's fender, an event now remembered for an improvised repair that used only available materials. According to NASA's Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, while making final preparations to drive to the ALSEP deployment site during the first moonwalk, Cernan accidentally tore the rear extension of the rover's right rear fender after catching the geology hammer hidden in his spacesuit's calf pocket.
The crew and Mission Control created a new fender out of four extra lunar maps, clamps, and duct tape, which held until the end of the mission. Apollo 17 was launched on December 7, 1972, with Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, the lunar module pilot, landing in the Taurus-Littrow valley while Ronald Evans, the command module pilot, remained in lunar orbit. This was the sixth and last Apollo Moon landing, with Cernan and Schmitt using the lunar rover for three different excursions on the lunar surface. The lunar rover had already been used on Apollo 15 and Apollo 16.
