Forty years ago today Apollo 17 was launched.  The liftoff was delayed until after midnight by a minor technical glitch.  I was living here in Miami, so a few seconds after the launch I went out to the balcony of my apartment and looked to the northeast.  A moment later I saw the flames of the Saturn rocket streaking into the night sky like a huge meteor, except it was going up, not down.  It was the last planned mission to the moon, and so far, it still is.