Background and career
Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. As of 2026, he is the last person to walk on the Moon. Cernan traveled into space three times and to the Moon twice: 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. He was also a backup crew member of Gemini 12, Apollo 7, and Apollo 14. During the Apollo 17 mission, he became the 11th person to walk on the Moon as well as the astronaut with the longest time spent walking on the Moon. Before becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in Indiana, and joined the U.S. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). After flight training, he received his naval aviator wings and served as a fighter pilot. In 1963, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Achieving the rank of captain, he retired from the Navy in 1976.
Cernan was born on March 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois; he was the son of Andrew George Cernan and Rose Cernan (née Cihlar). His father was of Slovak descent, and his mother was of Czech ancestry. He had one older sister, Dolores Ann. Cernan grew up in the Illinois towns of Bellwood and Maywood. He was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Second Class. After attending McKinley Elementary School in Bellwood, and graduating from Proviso Township High School in Maywood in 1952, he studied at Purdue University and served as treasurer of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He was also president of the Quarterdeck Society and the Scabbard and Blade, as well as a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, the military ball committee and the Skull and Crescent leadership honor society. After his sophomore year, he accepted a partial Navy ROTC scholarship that required him to serve aboard USS Roanoke between his junior and senior years. In 1956, Cernan received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering; his final GPA was 5.1 out of 6.0.
Cernan was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) at Purdue in 1956, and was initially stationed on the USS Saipan. Cernan changed to active duty and attended flight training at Whiting Field, Florida, Barron Field, Texas, NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, and NAS Memphis, Tennessee. Following flight training on the T-28 Trojan, T-33 Shooting Star, and F9F Panther, Cernan became a Naval Aviator, flying FJ-4 Fury and A-4 Skyhawk jets in Attack Squadrons 126 and 113. Upon completion of his assignment in NAS Miramar, California, he finished his education in 1963 at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School with a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. During his naval career, Cernan logged more than 5,000 hours of flying time, including 4,800 hours in jet aircraft. Cernan also made at least 200 successful landings on aircraft carriers.
In October 1963, NASA selected Cernan as one of the third group of astronauts to participate in the Gemini and Apollo space programs.
Cernan was originally selected with Thomas Stafford as backup pilot for Gemini 9. When the prime crew of Elliot See and Charles Bassett was killed in the crash of NASA T-38A "901" (USAF serial 63–8181) at Lambert Field, Missouri, on February 28, 1966, the backup crew became the prime crew—the first time in NASA history this happened. Gemini 9A encountered a number of problems; the original target vehicle exploded during launch and the planned docking with a substitute target vehicle was made impossible by the failure of a protective shroud to separate after launch. The crew performed a rendezvous that simulated procedures that would be used in the Apollo 10 mission; the first optical rendezvous and a lunar-orbit-abort rendezvous. Cernan performed the second American EVA, the third-ever spacewalk, but overexertion caused by a lack of limb restraints prevented testing of the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit and forced the early termination of the spacewalk. Cernan was also a backup pilot for the Gemini 12 mission.
Cernan was selected as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 7—although that flight carried no lunar module. Standard crew rotation put him in place as the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 10—the final dress rehearsal mission for the first Apollo lunar landing—on May 18–26, 1969. During the Apollo 10 mission, Cernan and his commander, Tom Stafford, piloted the Lunar Module Snoopy in lunar orbit to within 8.5 nautical miles (15.7 km) of the lunar surface, and successfully executed every phase of a lunar landing up to final powered descent. This provided NASA planners with critical knowledge of technical systems and lunar gravitational conditions to enable Apollo 11 to land on the Moon two months later. Apollo 10 holds the record for the highest speed attained by any crewed vehicle at 39,897 km/h (24,791 mph)—more than 11 km/s (6.8 mi/s)—during its return from the Moon on May 26, 1969.
