Gene Cernan

Eugene Andrew Cernan was an American <a href="/facts/Astronaut/HB1bd6Lz">astronaut</a>, <a href="/facts/United_States_naval_aviator/ApM3pUHr">naval aviator</a>, <a href="/facts/Electrical_engineer/YYXW1KLW">electrical engineer</a>, <a href="/facts/Aeronautical_engineer/2Ib02w7f">aeronautical engineer</a>, and <a href="/facts/Fighter_pilot/QvqJ7y6K">fighter pilot</a>. During the <a href="/facts/Apollo_17/5szGEz7n">Apollo 17</a> mission, Cernan became the 11th human being to walk on the Moon. As he re-entered the <a href="/facts/Apollo_Lunar_Module/XtvQS5K5">Apollo Lunar Module</a> after <a href="/facts/Harrison_Schmitt/VzexTg13">Harrison Schmitt</a> on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains the most recent person to walk on the <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a>. Since he exited the LM first and entered last, he has slightly more lunar surface EVA time on the Moon than Schmitt, making Cernan the astronaut with the record of longest time walking on the Moon.
Before becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a <a href="/facts/Bachelor_of_science/9n3gvDf7">bachelor of science</a> degree in <a href="/facts/Electrical_engineering/YYXW1KLW">electrical engineering</a> from <a href="/facts/Purdue_University/dRuTdltL">Purdue University</a> in Indiana, and joined the <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy/xYK0fUou">U.S. Navy</a> through the <a href="/facts/Naval_Reserve_Officers_Training_Corps/6ybtHtkM">Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps</a> (NROTC). After flight training, he received his naval aviator wings and served as a <a href="/facts/Fighter_pilot/QvqJ7y6K">fighter pilot</a>. In 1963, he received a <a href="/facts/Master_of_science/5xKwvXjm">master of science</a> degree in <a href="/facts/Aerospace_engineering/2Ib02w7f">aeronautical engineering</a> from the U.S. <a href="/facts/Naval_Postgraduate_School/K7CDD8XD">Naval Postgraduate School</a>. Achieving the rank of <a href="/facts/Captain_(United_States_O-6)/D43xa4oj">captain</a>, he retired from the Navy in 1976.
Cernan traveled into space three times and to the Moon twice: as pilot of <a href="/facts/Gemini_9A/nQWnlKJJ">Gemini 9A</a> in June 1966, as lunar module pilot of <a href="/facts/Apollo_10/SYbSPPHM">Apollo 10</a> in May 1969, and as commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo <a href="/facts/Moon_landing/RMXHoEpg">lunar landing</a>. Cernan was also a backup crew member of the <a href="/facts/Gemini_12/WmaNAXRA">Gemini 12</a>, <a href="/facts/Apollo_7/a09dyr4e">Apollo 7</a> and <a href="/facts/Apollo_14/SuokTzAu">Apollo 14</a> space missions.

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Gene Cernan