Apollo 17 set the record for the longest lunar surface stay, with astronauts spending about 75 hours on the Moon. The final Apollo landing mission touched down in the Taurus–Littrow valley on December 11, 1972, and remained on the surface for just over three Earth days.
Commander Eugene Cernan and lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt conducted three lunar-surface EVAs totaling 22 hours and 4 minutes. They used the Lunar Roving Vehicle to travel much farther from the lander than earlier crews, collecting samples and investigating the valley’s volcanic and mountainous terrain. Command module pilot Ronald Evans stayed in lunar orbit.
Apollo 17’s long surface stay was possible because it was a later J-type mission, designed for extended scientific exploration. It carried more equipment, a rover, and improved mission planning compared with Apollo 11. People sometimes confuse the record with the longest complete Apollo mission or longest lunar landing mission; Apollo 17 also set several related records, but the question specifically concerns time spent on the lunar surface.