The last man to be on the moon, Gene Cernan, dies

The US space agency, NASA, reported on Monday the death of astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon. “We have learned with great sadness of the loss of retired astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon. Moon, "NASA reported on its official Twitter account. Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, passed away today. We reflect on his life and legacy: https://t.co/U0HrTZo0iX pic.twitter.com/JtgCCQImrM – NASA (@NASA) January 17, 2017 The family has also confirmed through NASA the death of Cernan. "Even at the age of 82, Gene was passionate about sharing his desire to see human exploration of space and encouraged our nation's leaders and young people not to let him remain the last man to walk on the moon." Cernan was the pilot of the Apollo X lunar module, a mission carried out from May 18 to 26, 1969 that marked the first human navigation within the gravitational field of the Moon and photographed possible landing sites for subsequent missions. he served as a substitute commander for Apollo XIV and was the ship commander for the Apollo XVII mission, the last American manned mission to the Moon (December 6-19, 1972). This mission did reach the lunar surface and Cernan, accompanied by Jack Schmitt, made three excursions: In total, he spent 73 hours on the surface of the Moon and 566 hours in space, finally retiring on July 1, 1976 after more 20 years in the US Navy.