Former spaceman Gene Cernan , who in 1972 became the last valet to put foundation on the open of the Moon , has overhaul away at the eld of 82 . He died on Monday , January 16 , due to ongoing health effect , accord to his family .
" It is with very abstruse sorrowfulness that we share the deprivation of our beloved married man and founding father , ” Cernan ’s family said in astatement . “ Even at the age of 82 , Gene was passionate about sharing his desire to see the retain human geographic expedition of space and encouraged our nation ’s leader and young hoi polloi to not countenance him remain the last man to walk on the Moon . ”
Eugene Andrew Cernan was born on March 14 , 1934 , in Chicago , Illinois . After a distinguished career in the US Navy , he joined NASA in October 1963 as part of its third grouping of astronaut .
His first flight to blank space was aboard the Gemini 9 spacecraft , serving as the cowcatcher alongside Command Pilot Thomas Stafford , supervene upon the original crowd who were pop in an aircraft accident .
Cernan became the second American ( and third person overall ) to do an extravehicular natural action ( EVA ) during the mission , although experienced some difficulties that were iron out in later missions .
Cernan , pictured during his EVA on the Gemini 9 missionary post . NASA
In May 1969 , he fly to the Moon for the first clock time on the Apollo 10 charge . Together with Thomas Stafford and John Young , the three descended to 14,000 meters ( 47,000 feet ) , laying the groundwork for the Apollo 11 mission later that year .
In December 1972 , he returned to the Moon again on the Apollo 17 delegation – one of only three people to travel to the Moon twice , the others being Jim Lovell and John Young . He was the foreign mission ’s air force officer , and together with Lunar Module Pilot Jack Schmitt he touched down on the surface on December 11 , 1972 .
On their style to the Moon on December 7 , the gang took an iconic photo of Earth that was called “ The Blue Marble ” . In 2007 , Cernan said the trope had never really been appreciated – and perhaps the significance of the Apollo commission would not be gain for a hundred .
The illustrious " Blue Marble " icon of Earth , snatch up by the Apollo 17 crew . NASA
away from being the last manned missionary work to the Moon , Apollo 17 also pose the track record for the long time spent on the surface – 301 hours and 51 minutes . Cernan also unofficially holds the lunar land speed disk , driving the mission ’s Lunar Roving Vehicle at 18 kilometre per time of day ( 11.2 miles per hour ) .
As the Commander , Cernan was the last of him and Schmitt to re - embark the lunar module to leave the Moon on December 14 . Thus , Cernan remains the last mortal to have set base on the lunar surface .
“ America ’s challenge of today has forged man ’s luck of tomorrow , ” Cernan articulate as heleft the open , after enunciate that he hoped we would be back " not too long in the future " . It ’s often reported that later , as they get up to take off from the surface , his last words on the Moon were : " Let ’s get this female parent out of here . " While risible , his more likely final wordsaccording to NASAwere : " Now , let ’s get off . "
Gene Cernan pictured in the Lunar Roving Vehicle . NASA
Cernan retire from the Navy and NASA in 1976 , entering private commercial enterprise and working as a television commentator for Space Shuttle escape .
“ Gene ’s footprints remain on the moon , and his achievement are imprinted in our hearts and memory board , ” NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said in astatement . “ He was one of a kind and all of us in the NASA kinfolk will drop him greatly . ”
Only six of the 12 people to walk on the Moon are now still alive . They are Buzz Aldrin ( 86 ) , Alan Bean ( 84 ) , David Scott ( 84 ) , John Young ( 86 ) , Charlie Duke ( 81 ) , and Jack Schmitt ( 81 ) .
