Eugene Cernan

Cernan's NASA portrait, April 1969

Eugene Andrew "Gene" Cernan (/ˈsər.nən/; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017), (CAPT, USN, Ret.), was an American naval officer and Naval Aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, fighter pilot, and NASA astronaut.^[1]

Cernan was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in Bellwood, Illinois and in Maywood, Illinois. He studied at Purdue University and at the Naval Postgraduate School.

He traveled 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 most recent man to walk on the Moon since he was the last to re-enter the Lunar Module Challenger after the mission's third and final mission. Cernan was also a backup crew member for the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions.

Cernan died on January 16, 2017 at a hospital in Houston, Texas, aged 82.^[2]

Eugene Cernan Media

Gemini 9 Patch* * Ensignia of the GT-IX Space Flight. Roman numeral indicates ninth flight in the Gemini series. Two spacecraft symbolize rendezvous and docking of Gemini with Agena. Astronaut and umbilical tether line denotes planned Extravehicular Activity EVA.
Logo Apollo 10*Emblem of the Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. The prime crew of Apollo 10 is astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander; John W. Young, command module pilot; and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot.
Cernan aboard Gemini 9A
Cernan and Snoopy during Apollo 10 press conference
Cernan on the Moon during Apollo 17
Eugene Cernan at a memorial service for Neil Armstrong September 13, 2012
Cernan's lunar space suit on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.