Gene Cernan has died

[DrRoy]

Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon, has died

Eugene Cernan, Commander of Apollo 17 and the last man to walk on the moon, has died. He also flew on Gemini 9 and Apollo 10, and was one of only 3 astronauts who flew to the moon twice. I met him at Spacefest VII in Tuscon last June.

Eugene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, dead at 82 | Fox News

 

[Chuckanut]

Sad news.

It's hard to believe it has been over 40 years since a human being stepped onto the moon. Though it is good to see that we have sent robots to every planet in the solar system, and to the now non-planet Pluto.

Like my old grand-pappy used to say, "Occupy Mars!"

 

[frayne]

The engineering behind the Saturn V rocket still amazes me. The sheer size of the beast bogles the mind. The thought of sitting on top and being blasted off into space is simply unfathomable. I have nothing but enormous respect for our astronaut corp and may Gene RIP with his other deceased brethren.

 

[6miths]

I almost wore my T-shirt with all the Apollo mission crests on it today. For sure I'll wear it tomorrow! Still have a model of the Saturn V (and the 1B) in the house. Was a great time to grow up. So many heros! RIP Captain Cernan. You and your colleagues were an inspiration to so many.

 

[pb4uski]

+1

As they went to commercial on the national news tonight, Scott Pelly said "Coming up next, can you name the last man on the moon?" and then cut to commercial... for some reason I'm not sure of I said... Gene Cernan... fast forwarded through the commercials and the news came back on and announced he had passed away.

I have no idea how I knew that... but DW was impressed.

 

[texcurtis]

I had a picture of him on the moon in my office at NASA. He was visiting the suite of offices and I asked if he would sign the poster. He was so gracious and talked to me and a few others a while. We were all so star struck that none of us took pictures with our phones. RIP Mr Cernan

 

[DayDreaming]

Sad to hear.

I recently watched the documentary "Last Man on the Moon on Netflix and thought it was very good: https://www.netflix.com/title/80087933

 

[Chuckanut]

The engineering behind the Saturn V rocket still amazes me. The sheer size of the beast boggles the mind. The thought of sitting on top and being blasted off into space is simply unfathomable. I have nothing but enormous respect for our astronaut corp and may Gene RIP with his other deceased brethren.

Frank Borman described the intense shaking inside the Apollo 8 spacecraft as incredible when they took off. He actually though that something would probably shake apart. The the first stage engine cut off threw them forward violently. But, as we know, everything held together.

We went from John Glenn to a man on the moon in a bit over 7 years. Today it has been almost 6 years since the last Space Shuttle flight and we still can't put a human being in orbit.

 

[Chuckanut]

If you lived through the 60's you will probably find the movie Hidden Figures very interesting and a great reminder of those times.

 

[mickeyd]

I recall seeing him blast off from CC on that final mission. I watched it from Jetty Park where I was camped. I did not realize at the time that it would be the final moon-trek.