Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Eugene Cernan, RIP
We got sad news Monday that legendary astronaut Eugene Cernan has died. Cernan was the commander of Apollo 17, which flew in December 1972. And as the last member of the mission to reboard the lunar module Challenger, Cernan was the last human to walk on the Moon.
Apollo 17 wasn’t Cernan’s first trip to the moon either. He was also on board Apollo 10, which didn’t land, but descended within eight nautical miles of the surface. Before NASA, Cernan was a naval aviator, flying FJ-4 Furys and A-4 Skyhawks. He retired from the Navy in 1976 with the rank of Captain.
Before climbing aboard Challenger for the return trip, Cernan’s last words were “[A]s 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. Godspeed, the crew of Apollo 17.”
He was 82.
This article is a preview of The Daily Shot, Ricochet’s quick, smart, fun, morning e-mail to catch up on today’s big events — and get a preview of what’s coming up tomorrow. Subscribe today!
Published in General
I saw a headline that said something like “Last man to walk on moon dies” with Cernan’s picture below. My initial reaction was: “Did Buzz Aldrin not survive his problems last year?”
Perhaps “Man to walk on the moon most recently dies”.
Half of the twelve men who have walked on the moon are still alive. This includes Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Dave Scott (Apollo 15), John Young and Charles Duke (Apollo 16), and Harrison Schmidt (Apollo 17). Cannot count Nathan Walker or Ben Anderson (Apollo 18) one way or another because they never existed anyway.
Seawriter
How about: “Man who was last to walk on moon dies”?
Yeah, you really have to be careful with how you phrase things here. I saw an article earlier today that called Cernan the “last man to set foot on the Moon”; but that honor, arguably, goes to Jack Schmitt, who stepped off the LM after Cernan did.
You could also say that Cernan was the last man to leave the surface of the moon. But one could argue that Cernan and Schmitt left simultaneously, when the LM took off.
How about this: Cernan was the last man to make footprints on the moon.
Buzz Aldrin came to a Sunday screening of Destination Moon at our local theater, the Aero, and spoke for a few minutes. Since it was an afternoon screening there were a lot of kids there, mostly 6-12 years old. They cheered along with the rest of us for Aldrin, and I have to wonder: after decades and decades of Hollywood making space travel seem much more common than it really is, could many of those children comprehend how few people have ever gone to another “world” and returned? Really appreciated just how rare this was?