Evans flew as Command Module Pilot on Apollo 17, the final Apollo lunar landing mission. While Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt explored Taurus-Littrow on the surface, Evans remained in lunar orbit aboard America. He operated cameras and scientific instruments, maintained the command and service module — open definition, and completed 75 orbits of the Moon.

During the return to Earth, Evans performed a trans-Earth coast EVA — open definition to retrieve film cassettes from the Scientific Instrument Module bay, assisted by Schmitt from the open hatch. Apollo 17 gave him a unique role: he was the last Apollo astronaut to orbit the Moon alone while a landing crew worked below. After NASA, he continued in Apollo-Soyuz and Shuttle-related work before retiring from the agency in 1977.

Evans's background fit the broader pattern of the early astronaut corps: technical training, operational discipline, and a career built around difficult work before spaceflight. His formal education included University of Kansas (B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1956), and United States Naval Postgraduate School (M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, 1964). His service background is recorded as Captain, United States Navy. His personal record also sits alongside a family life recorded as married, two children, a reminder that these careers unfolded within ordinary lives as well as national history.

Evans's flown space career centered on Apollo 17, where he served as Command Module Pilot. Final Apollo lunar landing mission, flown to the Taurus-Littrow valley. The mission included the only professional geologist to walk on the Moon and set Apollo records for lunar surface time and sample return — open definition. The EVA record adds another layer to the mission: About 1 hour, 6 minutes; Evans performed the trans-Earth coast EVA while Harrison Schmitt assisted from the open hatch.