Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, dies at 82
(WISH) — Officials at NASA announced the death of astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, at the age of 82.
Monday afternoon NASA announced the loss via Twitter, saying: “We are saddened by the loss of retired NASA astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon.”
Born in Chicago in 1934, Cernan graduated from Purdue University in 1956 and joined the NASA crew in 1963.
Cernan logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space. As spacecraft commander of Apollo 17, he established new records for manned space flight, including 73 hours spent on the moon.
Cernan was the last person to leave his footprints on the moon’s surface.