Last Astronaut to Walk on the Moon - Gene Cernan - Dies

[-Olen-]

Sucks getting old(er) because your heroes start to die.

Gene Cernan was the last astronaut to walk on (and off of) the surface of the Moon as Commander of Apollo 17. He was 82 years old.

No Mercury astronaut (Original 7) is alive; there are several Gemini-era astronauts, but they are dwindling, and include: John Young, Tom Stafford, Frank Boreman, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, Jim McDivitt, Dave Scott, Buzz Aldrin, Al Bean, Mike Collins, Walt Cunningham, Dick Gordon, and Rusty Schweikert.

 

[andy4theherd]

i listened to Jim Lovell and Harrison Schmitt talk about Cernan today. i was born in '78 so i missed this stuff. my Dad "lights up" when he talks about it. he worked with my Uncle installing AC units in Florida during the Apollo missions. i can't even imagine how exciting a time it was. as a species i think we desperately need something to bring us together. forget race, religion, and politics for a while. i think a manned mission to Mars will do just that...

 

[andy4theherd]

"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. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind."

-Gene Cernan

 

[-Olen-]

Cernan left the surface of the Moon when I was a wee-fellow, so I have no active memory of even the last number-designated Apollo mission (I have a vague recollection of the Apollo-Soyuz mission that Deke Slaton commanded). My earliest recollections of astronauts and becoming interested in the space program had as much to do with certain tv shows, like "The Six-Million Dollar Man", "Space: 1999", movies like "Star Wars", and the copy-cat/spin-off type stuff from SWs, such as "Battlestar Galactica" and "Buck Rodgers" (Gil Gerard).

I would occasionally see something about the new "glider" shuttle (which turned out to be the Space Shuttle program, starting with the test "Enterprise", followed by the operational shuttles "Columbia" and "Challenger"). I was lucky enough to be home during spring break when Columbia landed after its first mission with NASA's most accomplished astronaut (IMO) John Young as commander and Robert Crippen as pilot. I had posters of the Columbia launch and landing.

Sad that space exploration is not as great a priority today.

 

[GK4Herd]

My favorite astronaut quote...