Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, dies aged 82

After his final space mission, Eugene Cernan said he no longer belonged "solely to the Earth" but also "to the universe."

Tuesday 17 January 2017 14:55, UK

Eugene Cernan during his moonwalk in December 1972
Image: Eugene Cernan during his moonwalk in December 1972
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Astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, has died aged 82 in Texas, NASA has announced.

He was the commander of Apollo 17 which went to the moon in December 1972, joining a select band of American astronauts.

Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17
Image: Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17

Mr Cernan was the 11th person to walk on the surface of the moon when he stepped from the lunar module Challenger.

His lunar module pilot, Jack Schmitt, became the 12th, but as commander, Mr Cernan was the last to re-enter the Challenger, so becoming the last man to set foot on the lunar surface.

  1. Apollo 11's crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin
    Image: All of the six moon landings to date were part of NASA's Apollo programme, between 1961 to 1972. Apollo 11 was the first to land safely on the moon on 20 July, 1969, with its crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin
  2. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon
    Image: Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon
  3. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin ride the special transport van over to Launch Complex 39A where their spacecraft awaited them
    Image: Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin ride the special transport van over to Launch Complex 39A where their spacecraft awaited them
  4. The Apollo 12 mission crew (L-R) Charles 'Pete' Conrad, Jr., Richard F. Gordon and Alan L. Bean in front of their Saturn V space vehicle
    Image: The Apollo 12 mission crew (L-R) Charles Conrad, Jr, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean in front of their Saturn V space vehicle
  5. Charles Conrad Jr stands with the US flag on the lunar surface during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969
    Image: Charles Conrad Jr stands with the US flag on the lunar surface during the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969
  6. Astronaut Alan L. Bean holds a sample container filled with lunar soil collected during the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969
    Image: Astronaut Alan Bean holds a sample container filled with lunar soil collected during the Apollo 12 mission
  7. The Apollo 14 crew module landed on the moon almost 46 years ago
    Image: The Apollo 14 crew module landed on the moon 46 years ago
  8. Alan Shepard wears his space suit and a smile during a training simulation for the Apollo 14 mission
    Image: Astronaut Alan Shepard wears his space suit and a smile during a training simulation for the Apollo 14 mission
  9. Astronaut Alan Shepard holds the pole of a US flag on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission
    Image: Alan Shepard holds the pole of a US flag on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission
  10. Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell was the, lunar module pilot on Apollo 14 and one of only 12 men to walk on the moon
    Image: Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 14 and is one of only 12 men to have walked on the moon
  11. Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott takes samples at the boulder on the rim of Hadley Rille during the Apollo 15 mission in July 1971
    Image: Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott takes samples from the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 mission in July 1971
  12. Charles M. Duke, Jr - Apollo 16 lunar module pilot
    Image: Apollo 16 lunar module pilot Charles Duke
  13. Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke on the surface of the moon during the manned Apollo 16 mission
    Image: Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke on the surface of the moon during the manned Apollo 16 mission
  14. Thomas 'Ken' Mattingly II wearing his space suit, Apollo 16 Command Module pilot
    Image: Apollo 16 command module pilot Ken Mattingly in his space suit
  15. Eugene was commander of Apollo 17
    Image: Eugene Cernan was commander of Apollo 17 and the last man to walk on the moon
  16. Eugene Cernan during his moonwalk in December 1972
    Image: Eugene Cernan during his moonwalk in December 1972
  17. Astronaut Ronald E. Evans is photographed performing extravehicular activity during the Apollo 17 spacecraft's trans-Earth coast on 17 December, 1972
    Image: Astronaut Ronald Evans during the Apollo 17 spacecraft's trans-Earth coast

He wrote the initials of his only child in the dust before climbing back into the module.

"I knew that I had changed in the past three days and that I no longer belonged solely to the Earth," Mr Cernan wrote in a memoir titled The Last Man on the Moon.

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The footsteps of the last man on the moon

"Forever more, I would belong to the universe."

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During the mission's three days on the moon, Mr Cernan and Mr Schmitt travelled more than 19 miles (30 km) in a lunar rover vehicle.

They gathered more than 220 pounds (100kg) of rocks during their 22 hours of exploring craters and hills.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden said: "Gene's footprints remain on the moon, and his achievements are imprinted in our hearts and memories."

Mr Cernan had previously gone into space as the pilot of Apollo 10 and was a pilot on the Gemini IX mission.

Cernan on board the lunar rover on the surface of the moon
Image: Cernan on board the lunar rover on the surface of the moon

The Apollo 10 flight flew to within eight miles of the surface of the moon, a "dress rehearsal" for Neil Armstrong's historic Apollo 11 mission two months later.

Mr Cernan was the second American to walk in space on the Gemini IX mission in 1966.

He was a former Navy test pilot who grew up in Chicago.

In later life Cernan helped set up an airline
Image: In later life Cernan helped set up an airline

After he left NASA he helped start the Air One airline, worked as an energy and aerospace consultant, served as chairman of an engineering company and was a space commentator for ABC News.

Mr Cernan died at a Houston hospital surrounded by his family.

Last month, John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and one of the US's first astronauts, died aged 95.

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