The last man on the moon (so far): Astronaut Gene Cernan who held the unofficial lunar land speed record and commanded the final manned mission to the moon passes away at 82

  • Astronaut Eugene Cernan - the last man to walk on the moon - has died aged 82
  • He was aboard the Apollo 17 in 1972 - NASA's final manned mission to the moon
  • Cernan became the 'last man on the moon' when he was the final astronaut to re-enter the Apollo Lunar Module
  • The retired U.S. Navy captain was also the second American to walk in space
  • He also held the unofficial lunar land speed record after recording a maximum speed of 11.2 mph during an Apollo 17 EVA 
  • Details of the 82-year-old's death were not immediately known

Astronaut Eugene Cernan - the last man to walk on the moon - has died aged 82.

'We are saddened by the loss of retired NASA astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon,' said NASA in a statement.

Details of his death were not immediately known.

Captain Cernan, a retired U.S. Navy captain, was the second American to have walked in space and was the commander of Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the moon.

In December 1972, he had the distinction of being the 'last man on the moon' after he became the final astronaut to re-enter the Apollo Lunar Module. He was the last human being to leave his footprints on the moon surface. 

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Astronaut Eugene Cernan - the last man to walk on the moon - has died aged 82

Apollo 17 Mission Commander Eugene Cernan pictured during the final manned mission to the moon, standing near the lunar rover and the US flag during a spacewalk on the moon in 1972

Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan (L) and scientist-astronaut Harrison H. 'Jack' Schmitt, photographed by the third crewmember Ronald Evans, aboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft during the final lunar landing mission

'We are saddened by the loss of retired NASA astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon,' said NASA in a statement

He also held the unofficial lunar land speed record after recording a maximum speed of 11.2 mph during an Apollo 17 EVA. 

In a 2007 interview for NASA's oral histories, Cernan said: 'I keep telling Neil Armstrong that we painted that white line in the sky all the way to the Moon down to 47,000 feet so he wouldn't get lost, and all he had to do was land. Made it sort of easy for him.' 

Born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 14, 1934, Eugene Cernan - better known as Gene received his commission through the Navy ROTC Program at Purdue University. He entered flight training upon graduation and was assigned to Attack Squadrons 26 and 112 at the Miramar, California, Naval Air Station and subsequently attended the Naval Postgraduate School.

After logging more than 5,000 hours, Captain Cernan was selected as one of fourteen astronauts for NASA's Gemini IX mission in October 1963.

The three day mission, saw the spacecraft achieve a circular orbit of 161 statute miles, while Cernan became the second American to walk in space - logging two hours and ten minutes outside the spacecraft in extravehicular activities. 

On his second space flight, Cernan served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 10 between May 18 and 26, 1969, during the first verification flight test of an Apollo lunar module (Cernan with fellow astronauts Thomas Stafford and John Young before their mission was launched)

Cernan (L) and Thomas P. Stafford (R) preparing for the liftoff of the Gemini 9 in 1966

Cernan holding the lower corner of the American flag during the mission's first EVA on the moon, 12 December 1972

Astronaut Gene Cernan is pictured in the Command Module during the outbound trip from the moon during the Apollo 17 mission in December, 1972 

The American crew of NASA's 'Apollo 17' with the lunar rover and the Apollo rocket behind in 1972, Left-right, Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot), Eugene Cernan, front (Commander) and Ron Evans (Command Module Pilot) 

The flight ended after 72 hours and 20 minutes with a perfect re-entry and recovery as Gemini IX landed within 1.5 miles of the prime recovery ship USS WASP. 

He later served as backup pilot for Gemini 12 and backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 7.

On his second space flight, Cernan served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 10 between May 18 and 26, 1969, during the first verification flight test of an Apollo lunar module.  

Cernan made his third and most famous space flight as spacecraft commander of Apollo 17 on December 6, 1972 - the United States' final manned mission to the moon, and first nighttime launch.

'Apollo 17 built upon all of the other missions scientifically,' said Cernan in 2008. 'We had a lunar rover, we were able to cover more ground than most of the other missions. We stayed there a little bit longer. We went to a more challenging unique area in the mountains, to learn something about the history and the origin of the moon itself.'

On their way to the moon, the Apollo 17 crew took one of the most iconic photographs in space-program history, the image of the Earth dubbed 'The Blue Marble.'  

The Apollo 17 mission saw Cernan and his fellow astronauts land the Challenger on the moon where they would spend the next three days exploring and taking samples.

It set new records for longest manned lunar landing flight, longest time in lunar orbit, longest time in lunar extravehicular activities and biggest lunar sample return.

During that time, Captain Cernan logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space-of which more than 73 hours were spent on the surface of the moon.

A 1971 portrait photo of US astronaut Eugene A. Cernan. Cernan, the commander of the Apollo 17 mission, in December 1972

Captain Eugene Cernan discusses his career in May 7, 2004 at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City

While he and lunar module pilot Harrison H. (Jack) Schmitt  conducted activities on the lunar surface, command module pilot Ronald Evans remained in orbit. 

At the end of the mission, Cernan was the last to board the spacecraft, making him the last man to walk on the moon.

While on the Moon, Cernan he and Schmitt performed three EVAs (Extravehicular Activities) for a total of about 22 hours of exploration of the Taurus–Littrow valley.

Their first EVA alone was more than three times the length Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent outside their spacecraft on Apollo 11. 

Cernan piloted the rover on its final outing, recording a maximum speed of 11.2 mph - giving him the unofficial lunar land speed record.

The following year, he acted for the Apolle spacecraft program manager as the senior United States negotiator with the USSR on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

American astronauts Eugene Cernan (in blue), Thomas Stafford (center, shirtless), and John Young (right) clown about with their families during a barbecue outside Young's home, Houston, Texas, 1969 when the three men were the back-up crew for the Apollo 7 mission

American NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan, pictured hugging his daughter, Tracy, in Houston, Texas, 1969

Barbara Cernan, the wife of astronaut Eugene Cernan, watched her husband's space launch in NASA's Apollo 10 mission on television with friends and family, Coca Beach, Florida, 1969 

He finally retired from the U.S. Navy after 20 years, and retired from NASA, in July 1976.

Cernan, who was married to wife Jan Nanna Cernan with whom he had three daughters, later founded his own firm, The Cernan Corporation in 1981, which dealt with consultant interests in energy and aerospace.

The retired Naval captain also became Chairman of the Board of Johnson Engineering Corporation which provides NASA's Flight Crew Systems Development with personnel. 

He was also recognizable face on TV after becoming the co-anchor of ABC's presentations of the flight of the shuttle.

Cernan, whose hobbies included horse riding, hunting, fishing and flying, leaves behind his wife Jan, three daughters, and his grandchild.

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