On December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan manually took control of the lunar module Challenger's landing at 300 feet by selecting computer program P-66, refusing to let the digital autopilot complete the landing.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by NASA's official Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal transcript, which precisely matches the timing, altitude, and program switch (P66) described in the claim. Date and lunar module name independently corroborated by multiple NASA and reference sources. [tier=silver indep_score=0.925 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- The First True Spaceship (seed:science_and_space)
- https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/alsj/a17/a17.landing.html (corroboration)
- https://apollojournals.org/afj/compessay.html (corroboration)