Eugene Cernan

Eugene Andrew "Gene" Cernan (/ˈsər.nən/; born March 14, 1934), (CAPT, USN, Ret.), is a retired American naval officer and Naval Aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, fighter pilot, and NASA astronaut. He launched into space three times: 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.

On Apollo 17, Cernan became the eleventh person to walk on the Moon and the last man on the Moon since he was the last to re-enter the Lunar Module Challenger after the mission's third and final extravehicular activity (EVA). (Crewmate Harrison Schmitt was the last man to arrive on the Moon, as Cernan left the module first.) Cernan was also a backup crew member for the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions.

Biography

Early years

Born on March 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, son of a Slovak father and a Czech mother, Cernan grew up in the suburban towns of Bellwood and Maywood. Graduating from Proviso East High School in Maywood, class of 1952, he entered Purdue University, where he became a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1956, and was commissioned as a U.S. Navy Ensign through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at Purdue. He became a Naval Aviator flying FJ-4 Fury then A-4 Skyhawk jets in the attack role. He received a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1963.