Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The Last Man

Read the Plaque - Apollo 17 Moon Landing Plaque

On this date (Eastern Standard Time) in 1972, Eugene Cernan became the last person to walk on the moon.  Cernan was commander of Apollo 17, the last manned lunar flight, and it was his third spaceflight, the first being Gemini 9A in 1966, the second, Apollo 10, which circled the moon in 1969.  Reentering the lunar module just before Cernan was Harrison Schmitt, the only surviving astronaut from the mission (he's now 87).  Ronald Evans was in the command module circling the moon.

Who thought at the time that a half-century later we would not have returned to the moon?  

(Below, Eugene Cernan)

The first image is a successful moon landing in full color containing the American flag, an astronaut, a lunar rover, and a lunar landing module. The second image is an emblem containing a statue of the Greek god Apollo, red stripes inside an eagle made of white lines, the Moon, Saturn, and a spiral galaxy; along the outside of the emblem are is the word "Apollo" along with the number "seventeen" in roman numerals, and then the name "Cernan," "Evans," and "Schmitt." The third and final image contains Schmitt on the left, Cernan in the middle and sitting, and Evans behind Cernan.

This is Cernan (with Schmitt) speaking from the moon.  About 4 minutes in he unveils the plaque, shown at the top of this post, that was left behind.  It's still there, ready to be read by the next visitors.  You can watch and listen to the eloquent Cernan speaking about his experience here.


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