Eugene Cernan

Astronaut Eugene Cernan was born in 1934 to first-generation Czech and Slovak American parents and grew up in the Chicago suburbs. As a young boy, Cernan had always shown a fascination for planes, and years later, while in college at Purdue University, he joined the Navy ROTC program and set forth his career as a Navy pilot. At just the age of twenty-two, Cernan soon advanced to test pilot and entered a postgraduate program in aeronautical engineering. Before he graduated with his master’s degree, Cernan got admitted to the astronaut program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1964, Lieutenant Commander Cernan made his first trip to outer space aboard the Gemini 9. During his journey, he orbited the earth for three days, which would result in him becoming the youngest astronaut to ever fly in space. A few years later, in December 1972, Cernan took part in the Apollo 17 mission, where he brought a Czechoslovak flag with him on the 325,000 kilometers journey in honor of his family’s roots. Before going back into the lunar module, Cernan drove the lunar rover about a mile away, and then he wrote out his daughter Tracy's initials, T D C, into the dust. Years later, Cernan looked at a painting done by fellow astronaut Alan Bean, where it showed the Apollo 17 crew working near a massive boulder they had encountered during their mission. According to Bean's book, "Painting Apollo," Cernan mentioned that he wished he had put his daughter's name on the side of the rock. Then, Bean included her name on the rock in the painting, known as "Tracy's Boulder." Apollo 17 was the last human-crewed flight to the moon. Cernan spent three days on the moon’s surface where throughout his time on the moon, he spent it walking, driving a moon rover, and collecting rocks for scientific studies. This very mission would make Cernan the last man to walk on the moon. As a result of his achievements, in March of 1973, NASA awarded him a Bronze Eagle award. Throughout his career, Cernan received many prestigious awards. "We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind." -- Cernan's closing words on leaving the moon at the end of Apollo 17