(Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first to do so, in March 1965.) [8], Cernan was originally selected with Thomas Stafford as backup pilot for Gemini 9. We will remember him as a valued friend and an inspiration to take risks and reach for our goals.. Downloads. A little more than a week since his passing, aged 82, veteran astronaut and Navy Capt. He has been 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. Cernan gained two step-daughters, Kelly and Danielle. Before becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and joined the U.S. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). Crew member on Gemini 9 (1966), Apollo 10 (1969), and Apollo 17 (1972) missions. He became the last of only a dozen men to walk on the moon on Dec. 14, 1972 tracing his only child's initials in the dust before climbing the ladder of the lunar module the last time. Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, dies. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. Jan. 16, 2017 12:50 PM PT. The valley we landed in was about 20 miles long and about five miles across. Aix que quan Eugene Cernan va trepitjar per darrera vegada la superfcie lunar va escriure al costat d'aquesta ltima petjada les segents lletres, TDC. [9] The crew, however, performed a rendezvous that simulated procedures that would be used in the Apollo 10 mission; the first optical rendezvous and a lunar-orbit-abort rendezvous. ", "It was perhaps the brightest moment of my life, and I can't go back," he said. In September, 1973, Cernan assumed additional duties as Special Assistant to the Program Manager of the Apollo spacecraft Program at the Johnson Space Center. Cernan and Neil Armstrong testified before U.S. Congress in 2010 in opposition to the cancellation of the Constellation program, which had been initiated during the George W. Bush administration as part of the Vision for Space Exploration with the aim of returning humans to the Moon and eventually Mars, but was deemed underfunded and unsustainable by the Augustine Commission in 2009. His father was of Slovak descent and his mother was of Czech ancestry. ), is a retired American naval officer and aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, fighter pilot, and NASA astronaut. Teresa was Cernan's only child with his wife Barbara. In 1963, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Eugene Cernan was born in 1934 in Chicago and graduated from Indiana's Purdue University in 1956 with a degree in electrical engineering. Naval Postgraduate School. Escalating budget cutbacks for NASA, however, brought the number of future lunar missions into question. Not only was he lucky to skip the ill-fated Apollo 13, his gamble worked. Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, was immortalized in Modern Family and song Tracys Name. The eight-day Apollo 10 trip included a Cernan-Stafford descent in a lunar module to within eight nautical miles of the surface. He was 82. Cernan was born on March 14, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a Czech-American mother, Rose (Cihlar), and a Slovak-American father, Andrew Cernan. , money, salary, income, and assets. Get personalized pricing by telling us when, where . In all, Cernan spent 73 hours on the surface of the moon . Click to enlarge. Their flights weren't the first or last of the Mercury and Apollo eras. Eugene Andrew Cernan ( / srnn /; March 14, 1934 - January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. Cernan was also a backup crew member of the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions. As color video pictures streamed across the gulf of space, the astronauts collected bluish-gray and tan rocks four billion years old, drilled eight-foot heat-probe holes and journeyed to a 7,000-foot mountain called the South Massif and to the edge of a deep crater. His death was announced by NASA. The story, and Cernan's relationship with his daughter, was later adapted into "Tracy's Song" by pop-rock band No More Kings. 6 comments. Cernan traveled into space three times and to the Moon twice: 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. Astronaut's Family Watches Apollo-10 Launch. That night launch was one of the more phenomenal things people remember about Apollo 17. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Everything from the dusty glove to his boyhood scrapbook is here to help us better understand Cernan's life and by extension humanity's first (and laster, most recent) steps on the moon.If this collection makes anything clear, it's that those steps were a shared experience on individual and deeply touching levels. Before heading home, Cernan said he drew the letters "TDC" the initials of his then 9-year-old daughter, Teresa Dawn with his finger on the dusty gray lunar surface. "There's no vibration. He later married Jan Nanna, who survives him, as do his daughter, Teresa Cernan Woolie; two stepdaughters, Kelly Nanna Taff and Danielle Nanna Ellis; nine grandchildren; and a sister, Dolores Riley. At the same time, he terminated his formal association with NASA.Cernan joined Coral Petroleum, Inc., of Houston, Texas, as Executive Vice President-International. In 1987, he married again, to Jan Nanna, and they lived in Houston. Decades later,Cernantried to ensure he wasn't the last person to walk on the moon, testifying before Congress to push for a return. His second marriage was to Jan Nanna Cernan (of Jan Nanna Cernan Designs Inc. in Houston, Texas); they had two daughters, Kelly and Danielle. Also Read: John Glenn, Astronaut and US Senator, Dies at 95. But you can't.". Two stepdaughters from second marriage, Kelly & Danielle. 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 has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. They had one daughter, Tracy (born in 1963). Eugene Cernan, in full Eugene Andrew Cernan, byname Gene Cernan, (born March 14, 1934, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.died January 16, 2017, Houston, Texas), American astronaut who, as commander of Apollo 17 (December 7-17, 1972), was the last person to walk on the Moon. He graduated from Proviso Township High School in Maywood, Ill., and received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1956. "The difficult thing about that is they put an astronaut's life at great risk there. [about the Apollo 17 launch being the first to occur at night] In order to get to where you want to land in December, and get the sun behind you at the proper angle when you land, it required us to launch at night. (Dec. 6, 1972, from the Moon), Houston, the Challenger has landed! Publicity Listings Cernan received the 2008 Rotary National Award for Space Achievement and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) Gold Air Medal, one of the most important international awards, in 2008.Cernan wrote (with New York Times bestselling author Don Davis) the book "The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space" (1999, ISBN 0312199066).He died at 82 on January 16, 2017 in Houston, Texas. A Chicago native, he received an electrical engineering degree from Purdue and a Masters of Science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Gene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17 and the last person to walk on the moon, has passed away. You hit a little pothole and you've got one wheel off the ground half the time. At Purdue, Cernan was also president of the Quarterdeck Society and the Scabbard and Blade, and a member of the Phi Eta Sigma honor society and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17. Skimming the lunar surface in a rehearsal for the first manned landing, he erupted with salty language heard by millions when his craft briefly spun out of control. Captain Cernan was the last of 12 Americans to set foot on the moon in six Apollo landings. Eventually, Cernan was won over and signed the photograph; "As I told him these stories of heroic entrepreneurship, I could see his mind turning." In 1976, he retired from the Navy and NASA and became an executive of Coral Petroleum in Houston. He states in the 2014 documentary The Last Man on the Moon[43] that he wrote them in the lunar dust as he left the rover to return to the LEM and Earth. Before heading home, Cernan said he drew the letters "TDC" the initials of his then 9-year-old daughter, Teresa Dawn with his finger on the dusty gray lunar surface. 1969 Press Photo Teresa Dawn, daughter of astronaut Eugene Cernan - hca81030 . "Neil (Armstrong, who died in 2012) and I aren't going to see those next young Americans who walk on the moon. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The Saturn V's S-IVB stage and the spacecraft were inserted into an earth . He is from USA. As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains as of 2023, famously: "The last man on the Moon". His zodiac sign is Pisces. Many hours of these ABC broadcasts have been uploaded to YouTube in recent years. He also earned an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Western State University College of Law in 1969, an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Purdue University in 1970, and other honors from other universities. So close and yet so far!In addition to demonstrating that humans could navigate safely and accurately in the Moon's gravitational fields, Apollo 10 photographed and mapped tentative landing sites for future missions. He was 82. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1956 and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. It was a dress rehearsal for the lunar landing on the next flight and tookCernanand Stafford, aboard the lunar module Snoopy, to within 9 miles of the moon's surface. [44] The true story of leaving the initials on the lunar surface was prominently mentioned in "The Last Walt", a 2012 episode of Modern Family. The mission completed, the captain took his last steps on the lunar surface and spoke for posterity. Because the moon has no wind or atmosphere, it will likely remain there forever.
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