09/21/2026
For more than five decades, Eugene Cernan has held a title he once hoped another astronaut would take from him.
Cernan was the last human to walk on the Moon, during Apollo 17 in December 1972—NASA’s final crewed lunar landing of the Apollo era.
His journey to the Moon was part of a remarkable three-flight career. He flew on Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17, becoming the only person to travel to the Moon twice and one of only 12 people to walk on its surface.
On December 14, 1972, Cernan climbed back into the lunar module after completing humanity’s final lunar surface excursion. The footprints he and Harrison Schmitt left behind remain on the Moon, preserved in the lunar soil because there is no wind or rain to erase them.
Cernan died in January 2017 at age 82. He had spent years hoping that humanity would return to the Moon and that another astronaut would eventually take away his distinction as the last person to walk there.
More than 50 years later, those footprints are still waiting for the next generation of explorers.
Do you think humans will walk on the Moon again during your lifetime?
