Eugene Andrew "Gene" Cernan,, is a former American naval officer and
aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, fighter pilot,
and NASA astronaut. He launched into space three times: as Pilot of Gemini 9A
in June 1966, as Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 10 in May 1969, and as Commander
of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo lunar landing.
On Apollo 17, Cernan became the eleventh person to walk on the Moon and the last
man on the Moon since he was the last to re-enter the Lunar Module Challenger
after the mission's third and final extravehicular activity. Cernan was also
a backup crew member for the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions.
Biography = Early years =
Born on March 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, son of a Slovak father and a
Czech mother, Cernan grew up in the suburban towns of Bellwood and Maywood.
Graduating from Proviso East High School in Maywood, class of 1952, he entered
Purdue University, where he became a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He
received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1956, and was
commissioned as a U.S. Navy Ensign through the Naval Reserve Officers
Training Corps at Purdue. He became a Naval Aviator flying FJ-4 Fury then A-4
Skyhawk jets in the attack role. He received a Master of Science degree in
Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1963.
Cernan was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Second Class. His hobbies
include love for horses, sports, hunting, fishing, and flying.
He has logged more than 5,000 hours flying time, with more than 4,800 hours
in jet aircraft, and over 200 jet aircraft carrier landings.
= NASA career = Cernan was selected among the third
group of NASA astronauts in October 1963 by NASA to participate in projects
Gemini and Apollo. Project Gemini
Cernan was originally selected as backup pilot for Gemini 9 with Thomas Stafford.
When the prime crew was killed in the crash of NASA T-38A "901" at Lambert
Field on February 28, 1966, the backup crew became the prime crew. Gemini 9A
encountered a number of problems; the original target vehicle exploded during
launch, and the planned docking with a substitute target vehicle was made
impossible by a protective shroud failing to separate after launch.
However, the crew performed a rendezvous that simulated procedures that would be
used in Apollo 10: the first optical rendezvous; and a lunar orbit abort
rendezvous. Cernan performed the second American EVA, but overexertion due to
lack of limb restraints prevented testing of the AMU and forced the early
termination of the spacewalk. Apollo program
Cernan is one of only three humans to voyage to the Moon on two different
occasions, one of only twelve people to walk on the Moon and the only person to
have descended toward the Moon in the lunar lander twice. Apollo 10 holds the
world/moon record for the highest speed attained by any manned vehicle at 39,897
km/h during its return from the Moon on May 26, 1969.
Cernan turned down the opportunity to walk on the Moon as Lunar Module Pilot
of Apollo 16, preferring to risk missing a flight altogether for the opportunity
to command his own mission. He was publicly critical of the decision by
NASA to send a scientist—Schmitt—to the Moon, a decision that meant that
original Lunar Module Pilot, Joe Engle, never got to walk on the Moon. However,
in Cernan's words, Schmitt proved a capable LM pilot.
Eight months later Cernan was selected as Commander of Apollo 17, the final
lunar landing. While on the Moon in December 1972 during Apollo 17, he and
his crewmate Harrison Schmitt performed three EVAs for a total of about 22 hours
of exploration of Taurus–Littrow valley. Their first EVA alone was more than
three times the length Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent outside the LM on
Apollo 11. During this time they covered more than 35 km using the Lunar Rover
and spent a great deal of time collecting geologic samples that would
shed light on the Moon's early history. Cernan piloted the rover on its final
sortie, recording a maximum speed of 11.2 mph, giving him the lunar land
speed record. As Cernan prepared to climb the ladder
for the final time, he spoke these words, currently the last spoken by a
human standing on the Moon's surface: "Bob, 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
what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has 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 17."
Cernan's distinction as the last person to walk on the Moon means that Purdue
University currently holds the distinction of being the alma mater of
both the first person to walk on the Moon, and the last.
= Post-NASA career = On July 2, 1974 Cernan was a roaster of
Don Rickles on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.
In 1976, Cernan retired from both the Navy and from NASA, and went into
private business. In 1999 he published his memoir The Last
Man on the Moon with coauthor Donald A. Davis, covering his naval and NASA
career. He has been featured in space exploration documentaries, such as In
the Shadow of the Moon, in which he stated: "Truth needs no defense" and
"Nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the moon away from
me." Cernan also contributed to the book of the same name.
Cernan was a contributor to ABC News and its Good Morning America morning show.
On May 13, 2010, Cernan and Neil Armstrong testified before U.S. Congress
in opposition to President Barack Obama's cancellation of the
Constellation program, initiated during the Bush administration as part of the
Vision for Space Exploration to return humans to the Moon and later to Mars,
but later deemed underfunded and unsustainable by the Augustine
Commission in 2009. Organizations
Cernan is a member of several organizations: Fellow, American
Astronautical Society; member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots; member, Tau
Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Gamma Delta, and the Explorers Club.
Awards and honors Navy Astronaut Wings
Navy Distinguished Service Medal, twice Distinguished Flying Cross
National Defense Service Medal NASA Distinguished Service Medal
NASA Exceptional Service Medal International Space Hall of Fame
U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Slovakia : Grand Officer of the Order of
the White Double Cross. In popular culture
Cernan was featured in the Discovery Channel's documentary miniseries When We
Left Earth: The NASA Missions, providing narrative on his involvement and
missions as an astronaut. In the 1998 Primetime Emmy Award-winning HBO
miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, he was portrayed by Daniel Hugh Kelly.
His recollections were the basis of the song "Moon Rider", written by Paul and
Ralph Colwell and Herbert Allen, performed by Up With People.
In December 2011 Cernan appeared on the BBC's astronomy program The Sky at Night
in the episode entitled "Last Man on the Moon". He appeared on another BBC
program in 2012, answering questions on Stargazing Live by video link from
Houston. Cernan's story of leaving the initials
of his daughter, Tracy, written on a rock on the Moon, was prominently
mentioned in the 20th episode of the third season of Modern Family. The
story, and Cernan's relationship with his daughter in general, was later
adapted into "Tracy's Song" by pop-rock band No More Kings.
A number of fictional characters have been described as being the "last man to
walk on the moon." These have included Steve Austin of the novel Cyborg by
Martin Caidin and Capt. Spurgeon Tanner, a character in the film Deep Impact
portrayed by Robert Duvall. In Magnificent Desolation: Walking on
the Moon 3D, Cernan is voiced by Gary Sinise.
Cernan's voice from the Apollo 17 mission was sampled by Daft Punk for the
duo's 2013 album Random Access Memories, in the last track named "Contact".
Cernan's name is used as the name of a Twain Ship - An air ship capable of
traversing parallel worlds - in "The Long Mars", a Science-Fiction/Fantasy
novel by Sir Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.
Physical description Weight: 190 lb
Height: 6 ft 0 in Hair: Gray
Eyes: Blue Gallery
See also List of spaceflight records
Cernan Earth and Space Center, a public planetarium on the campus of Triton
College in River Grove, Illinois named in Cernan's honor.
References External links
Official website of Capt. Eugene Cernan Cernan's official NASA biography
Last Man on the Moon Gene Cernan flies the Windows-based
"Eagle Lander 3D" Simulator Eugene Cernan at the Internet Movie
Database Astronautix biography of Eugene Cernan
Spacefacts biography of Eugene Cernan Cernan at Encyclopedia of Science
Cernan at Spaceacts Cernan at International Space Hall of
Fame Eugene Cernan interview on The Sky at
Night Check-Six.com - The 1971 Crash of Gene
Cernan's Helo Gene Cernan Oral History, Houston Oral
History Project, February 5, 2009. accessed April 19, 2015.
Appearances on C-SPAN