{"id":359561,"date":"2026-04-02T02:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359561\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T02:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:21:17","slug":"ahead-of-artemis-ii-launch-know-all-about-the-last-man-to-walk-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/359561\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of Artemis II launch, know all about the last man to walk on the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n ‘We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind,’ were American astronaut Eugene Cernan’s closing words while leaving the Moon.\n <\/p>\n

Eugene Andrew Cernan, the commander of Apollo 17, left his mark on the history of exploration by flying three times in space, twice to the moon. He also holds the distinction of being the second American to\u00a0walk in space <\/a>and the last human to leave his footprints on the lunar surface, according to NASA.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Closeup
\nClose-up of Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan taken on October 9, 1964. (Image Source: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Cernan began his journey into space with the\u00a0Gemini IX<\/a>\u00a0mission on June 3, 1966, serving as pilot alongside Thomas Stafford. During the three-day flight, Cernan became the second American to walk in space, spending over two hours in extravehicular activity. The mission tested complex rendezvous techniques in orbit and concluded with a near-perfect splashdown<\/a>, underscoring NASA\u2019s growing confidence in human spaceflight operations.<\/p>\n

\"Astronauts
\nAstronauts Thomas Stafford (right) and Eugene Cernan wave to the crowd aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp as they emerge from their Gemini-9 capsule. John C. Stonesifer (far right), with the Manned Spacecraft Center’s Landing and Recovery Division, was on board to greet the astronauts. (Image Source: NASA)<\/p>\n

His second journey came with Apollo 10<\/a> on May 18, 1969, a crucial rehearsal ahead of the first Moon landing. As lunar module pilot, Cernan joined Stafford and John Young in a mission that pushed the boundaries of precision navigation. The crew descended and this near-touchdown mission proved that astronauts could safely operate in the Moon\u2019s gravitational field and laid the groundwork for the success of subsequent lunar landings.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nThe Apollo 10 crew (left to right) John Young, Tom Stafford, and Gene Cernan are shown upon their return to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston (Image Source: NASA)<\/p>\n

Cernan\u2019s final voyage came with Apollo 17<\/a> on December 7, 1972, where he served as commander on humanity\u2019s last mission to the Moon<\/a>. The flight began with the first nighttime launch of a crewed lunar mission and culminated in an extended stay at the Taurus-Littrow valley. Alongside Harrison Schmitt, Cernan spent over three days exploring the surface, setting records for the longest lunar stay and the largest collection of Moon rocks returned to Earth. The Apollo program defined America\u2019s first era of lunar exploration.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nThe Apollo 17 crew of Harrison H. \u201cJack\u201d Schmitt, left, Eugene A. Cernan, and Ronald E. Evans during their first press conference. (Image Source: NASA)<\/p>\n

Apollo 17 is seen as one of the cleanest and most productive in Apollo history. The mission established several\u00a0new records<\/a> for human space flight, including the longest lunar landing flight (301 hours, 51 minutes); longest lunar surface extravehicular activities (22 hours, 6 minutes); largest lunar sample return<\/a> (nearly 249 pounds); and longest time in lunar orbit (147 hours, 48 minutes).\u00a0\u201cWe leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind,\u201d were Eugene’s closing words<\/a> while leaving the moon.<\/p>\n

\"Harrison
\nCaptured by Harrison H. Schmitt aboard Apollo 17, this zero-gravity snapshot shows Commander Eugene A. Cernan floating \u201cright side up,\u201d while Ronald E. Evans appears \u201cupside down. (Image Source: NASA \/ JSC\/AS17-162-24053)<\/p>\n

The April 1, 2026, launch of Artemis II, which is happening today at 6:24 P.M. EDT, will\u00a0differ significantly from Apollo 17<\/a> in both purpose and execution. Artemis II is a 10\u2011day crewed lunar flyby using NASA\u2019s larger Space Launch System (SLS)<\/a> and the Orion capsule, which carries four astronauts instead of Apollo\u2019s three. It follows a free\u2011return trajectory around the Moon, relying on gravity for much of its return, rather than a landing\u2011and\u2011ascent profile. The Artemis II mission also includes the first woman and first person of color headed toward the Moon, emphasizing diversity and long\u2011term lunar exploration, whereas Apollo 17 was the final Apollo landing focused on surface science and symbolic presence. NASA looks to that moment when planning new steps toward returning to the moon.<\/p>\n

More on Starlust<\/p>\n

\u2018We are ready’: NASA mission managers confident ahead of April 1 launch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return with peace and hope for all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-359561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}