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A water-level view of the Apollo 17 Command Module (CM) "America" floating in the Pacific Ocean following splashdown and prior to recovery. The prime recovery ship, the USS Ticonderoga, is in the background. When this picture was taken, the three-man crew of astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans and Harrison H. Schmitt, had already been picked up by helicopter and flown to the deck of the recovery ship. The spacecraft was later hoisted aboard the USS Ticonderoga. A United States Navy UDT swimmer stands on the flotation collar. Apollo 17 splashdown occurred at 2:24:59 p.m. (EST), Dec. 19, 1972, about 350 nautical miles southeast of Samoa.