He walked on the moon in 1972. This is his advice for the Artemis II astronauts.

If anyone can offer advice to the four NASA astronauts scheduled to launch Wednesday on a mission to orbit the moon, it’s Harrison Schmitt.

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Schmitt, 90, left his shoes on the lunar surface in 1972, as part of Apollo 17 – the last mission in the program, which was the last time humans went to the moon.

NASA’s Artemis II mission, scheduled for launch at 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, is set to begin a new era of lunar exploration. Crews plan to orbit the moon as a step toward a lunar landing in 2028 (similar to how Apollo 8’s lunar orbit flight paved the way for Apollo 11).

Schmitt expects the Artemis II astronauts to see some of the extraterrestrial objects he made more than half a century ago.

“Every day, every hour, every minute, is a new experience,” Schmitt said in an interview with NBC News.

As for what he would tell the Artemis II crew: “Make sure you get your training down. Be prepared for the unexpected, but have a good time.

Much has changed since Apollo 17. Schmitt and his colleagues were part of the space race against the Soviet Union. Today, NASA is competing with China, which hopes to land its own astronauts on the moon by 2030.

The Apollo 17 astronauts spent about 13 days in space – three more than on the moon. They achieved the highest point they traveled on the moon, driving the lunar rover a total of 19 kilometers. They also collected more geological samples than any other lunar mission, returning 243 pounds to Earth.

Schmitt said he will never forget going into lunar orbit in the dark, on the far side of the moon that faces Earth.

“We were living east of the moon, and the sun had just risen,” Schmitt said.

The Artemis II spacecraft will get a better view of the far side of the moon than the Apollo crew did.

“It looks like there’s about 60% of the far side, I think, that hasn’t been seen by the human eye because of the lighting conditions,” Reid Wiseman, Artemis II mission manager, said in a press conference on Friday. “Apollo was always looking for light in front of the moon for landing and launch… We’ve seen it in satellite images, but people haven’t seen that before.

The result of Apollo 17 represented, for decades, the end of US ambitions to maintain a human presence on the moon. NASA’s budget collapsed in the 1970s, the Apollo missions were canceled and the US prioritized space station work.

Unlike the Apollo program, NASA’s long-term mission with Artemis does not go beyond a temporary visit to the moon. The space agency hopes to build a lunar base to facilitate long-term landings, then eventually use the base as a stepping stone to Mars.

“It wouldn’t surprise me in anyone’s lifetime to see people out there for months and years and actually have a real solution on the moon,” Schmitt said. “Mars can be found, and I think we will continue.”

Why is he so sure? “We’re human, that’s what we’ve always done,” Schmitt said.

He said: “From the beginning of the human race in Africa until now, it has been expanding.

When the Apollo 17 crew left the moon, commander Gene Cernan said: “We are going as we came, and, God willing, we will return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”

If all goes to plan, Artemis II will be a major step in the effort to reverse that. On the sixth day of their mission, the crew is expected to come within about 6,000 miles of the moon’s surface. Their orbit around the moon would take them farther from Earth than anyone had ever done before.

“These types of aircraft for the country are very important,” said Schmitt. “It is clear that China has an interest in controlling space as it has an interest in controlling global affairs. So it is a national effort, and it needs to be done well and properly.”