He was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Second Class. Cernan grew up in the Illinois towns of Bellwood and Maywood. He had one older sister, Dolores Ann (1929–2019). His father was of Slovak descent and his mother was of Czech ancestry. Cernan was also a backup crew member of the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions.Ĭernan was born on March 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois he was the son of Andrew George Cernan (1904–1967) and Rose Cernan ( née Cihlar 1898–1991). Achieving the rank of captain, he retired from the Navy in 1976.Ĭernan 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. In 1963, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. After flight training, he received his naval aviator wings and served as a fighter pilot. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains to this day, famously: "The last man on the Moon".īefore becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and joined the U.S.
During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to walk on the Moon. Eugene Andrew Cernan ( / ˈ s ɜːr n ə n/ March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot.