Charles Duke, who became the youngest person to walk on the moon during the 1972 Apollo 16 mission, recently reflected on U.S. space exploration efforts in an interview with CBS Saturday Morning.

Duke, a former NASA astronaut and Air Force officer, shared his perspectives on the current state of American space exploration as NASA's Artemis program advances toward returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years.

The Apollo 16 mission in 1972 marked one of the final crewed lunar landings in NASA's original moon program. Duke's historic moonwalk came during an era when the United States successfully landed 12 astronauts on the moon across six Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.

NASA's current Artemis program aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon and eventually serve as a stepping stone for future Mars exploration. The program represents the agency's most ambitious lunar exploration effort since the conclusion of the Apollo era.

Duke's interview comes as NASA continues developing the capabilities and selecting crew members for upcoming Artemis missions, which will mark America's return to lunar exploration after more than five decades.