Editor’s note: The following story was first published on Jan. 17, 2017 following Gene Cernan’s death on Jan. 16, 2017.
Jan. 17, 2017 – Gene Cernan, retired U.S. Navy officer and former NASA astronaut who was the commander of the last mission to the Moon (Apollo 17) in 1972, died yesterday. He was 82. The Last Man on the Moon, a movie released in 2016, tells his riveting story as the last human to leave footprints on the moon.
The Last Man on the Moon Trailer by Mark Stewart Productions
Apollo 17 Mission
The Apollo 17 mission to the moon launched on Dec. 7, 1972 from Cape Canaveral in Florida with three astronauts.
Gene Cernan was the commander. Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, a geologist, was the lunar module pilot, and Ronald Evans was the command module pilot.
Blue Marble photo
On their way to the moon, they snapped a picture of Earth with an entire hemisphere fully illuminated. Mention “Blue Marble” to people who follow the space program and that’s all that is needed to say. Millions of people are aware of this photo. It shows Africa, the Arabian peninsula and the south polar ice cap. The photo is one of the most popular images ever taken by astronauts.
According to NASA, Blue Marble is a title in use today for an ongoing series of NASA Earth imagery.
Apollo 17 landing on the Moon
Jettisoned from the Apollo 17 command module, the lunar module with Cernan and Schmitt on board, landed on the moon on Dec. 11, 1972. They stayed on the moon for more than three days setting many records. According to NASA, record setting achievements included: 1) longest manned lunar landing flight (301 hours 51 minutes); 2) longest lunar surface extravehicular activities (22 hours 6 minutes); 3) largest lunar sample return (an estimated 115 kg (249 lbs.); and 4) longest time in lunar orbit (147 hours 48 minutes).
Apollo 17 was Cernan’s second Apollo mission. In May 1969, he was the lunar module pilot of Apollo 10, the mission that preceded Apollo 11, the first mission that landed astronauts on the moon (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin). During the Apollo 10 mission, the command module descended within eight nautical miles of the moon’s surface to check things out for the July 1969 Apollo 11 mission. Apollo 10 confirmed it was all systems go for the next mission to land on the moon.
In a 2007 interview for NASA’s oral histories, Cernan said, “I keep telling Neil Armstrong that we painted that white line in the sky all the way to the Moon down to 47,000 feet so he wouldn’t get lost, and all he had to do was land. Made it sort of easy for him.”
During his 2007 interview, Cernan reflected on the Blue Marble photo, a photo he believed had not fully been appreciated.
“What is the real meaning of seeing this picture? I’ve always said, I’ve said for a long time, I still believe it, it’s going to be – well it’s almost fifty now, but fifty or a hundred years in the history of mankind before we look back and really understand the meaning of Apollo. Really understand what humankind had done when we left, when we truly left this planet, we’re able to call another body in this universe our home. We did it way too early considering what we’re doing now in space. It’s almost as if JFK reached out into the twenty-first century where we are today, grabbed hold of a decade of time, slipped it neatly into the (nineteen) sixties and seventies (and) called it Apollo.”
they finished their work on the Moon. (Photo: Jack Schmitt/NASA)
After spending more than 3 days on the moon, Schmitt entered the lunar module first followed by Cernan so Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. They knew at the time that the last three Apollo missions had been canceled. They left behind a plaque that says:
“Here Man completed his first exploration of the Moon, December 1972 A.D. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.”
Cernan cared deeply about inspiring the next generation of space explorers and scientists. According to NASA, Gene recently said: “I was just a young kid in America growing up with a dream. Today what’s most important to me is my desire to inspire the passion in the hearts and minds of future generations of young men and women to see their own impossible dreams become a reality.”
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. When did the Apollo 17 mission to the Moon launch?
2. How did the lunar module land and take off from the Moon?
3. Who were the three astronauts on the Apollo 17 mission?
INQUIRY QUESTIONS
1. After watching the documentary trailer, how would you describe the life of an astronaut?
2. How did Gene Cernan pave the way for the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first astronauts on the Moon?
3. Through the related link, summarize the Apollo 11 mission.