This Heartwarming Family Photo Has Lived On The Moon For Over 50 Years

Even though China has gotten very close to its first-ever manned moon landing, NASA remains the only space agency to land people on the moon as of mid-2026. One of those NASA astronauts, Charles M. Duke Jr., left a very special memento behind to mark his landing: A photograph of his beloved family.

Along with Thomas K. Mattingly II and John W. Young, Duke Jr. was part of the Apollo 16 mission, which departed Earth on April 16, 1972. Apollo 16’s goal was the region of Descartes, a crater in the moon’s highlands that previous missions had not visited. Their objectives were to collect rock samples, which would allow scientists to learn more about the moon’s composition, as well as to place instruments and conduct experiments to obtain more detailed readings of solar winds and other forces on the moon’s surface. 

Before leaving the moon, Duke Jr. left a small scrap of cloth on its surface marked “64-C,” the name of the class with which he’d passed as a test pilot, and a commemorative coin marking the 25th anniversary of the United States Air Force’s founding. He didn’t just honor his military family, though; he also left something to commemorate the family waiting for him at home, placing a photograph of himself with his two young sons, Charles and Tom, and his wife Dotty. On the back, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine, was a simple message: “This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth. Landed on the Moon, April 1972.”

Charles M. Duke Jr’s photograph of himself with his family was taken to the moon, it seems, largely for the same reason why dads do most things: to score cool points with his children. Speaking to Business Insider in 2015, Duke Jr recalled asking his kids, “Would y’all like to go to the Moon with me?” to get them interested in the mission. Taking the photograph was his way of allowing them to do just that. 

It was for the best, perhaps, that his sons didn’t physically join him and John Young on the Moon’s surface. This is the sort of perilous journey on which so much hinges on luck and timing. Indeed, Apollo 16 came within a hair’s breadth of having to cancel the landing entirely. Speaking to Fox Carolina News in April 2026, Duke Jr explained: “[A] serious problem happened about an hour before we landed on the Moon. [Thomas K] Mattingly reports a problem with the main engine … in the Command Module, which was your ride home.” 

This happened on the far side of the moon and could have aborted the landing. Thankfully, Mission Control found a workaround that brought the engine back to life and saved the mission. As for the photograph, it remains there, over half a century later. Though Duke wrapped the photo in plastic, it’s unclear how well it held up to solar radiation in the decades between the Apollo 16 landing and NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission, which took place in early April 2026.