Gene Cernan: Last Man on the Moon
February 2017 :
Once again, we mourn one of the exclusive club of men who brought the Apollo program to fruition. Although John Glenn, who died last month, never was a part of the Apollo program, his work on the Gemini mission paved the way for the future astronauts to travel and return safely. This time, however, it is one who went to the Moon, not once, but twice: Eugene Cernan, the last person to step away from the lunar surface.
Cernan, a Navy Ensign commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at Purdue, became a Naval Aviator, logging over 5,000 hours of flight time.
Cernan was one of the third group of astronauts chosen in 1963, exclusively for the Gemini and Apollo programs. His first launch was the Gemini 9A, after the untimely deaths of original Gemini 9 crew members Eliot See and Charles Bassett. The work of Gemini 9A resulted in the docking successes of the Apollo craft.
Cernan's first taste of the Moon came as a result of Apollo 10, where he explored the possible landing site for Armstrong and Aldrin just several weeks before Apollo 11 was to set down. It is said that Apollo 10 set the record for the highest speed ever by a manned vehicle: 24,791 mph, during the mission's return flight home.
Cernan and fellow Apollo 17 astronaut Schmitt spent about 22 hours on the Taurus-Littrow valley, including several miles traveling on the lunar rover. On their final return to the lunar module, it is said that Cernan drew his daughter's initials on the surface with his boot, then stated:
“…This is Gene, and I'm on the surface, and as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record: That America's challenge of today had forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 11.”
As we stated just last month with another veteran astronaut: Godspeed, Gene Cernan.
