Eugene Cernan Remembered: Photos of the Last Man on the Moon

Captain Eugene A. Cernan Speaks at Armstrong Memorial

NASA TV

Captain Eugene A. Cernan spoke at the memorial service for Neil Armstrong at Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC, September 13, 2012.

Armstrong Memorial Service

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, looks skyward during a memorial service celebrating the life of Neil Armstrong at the Washington National Cathedral, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died Saturday, Aug. 25. He was 82.

At the Armstrong Memorial Service

NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, right, shares a moment with Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, left, as U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, center looks on prior to a memorial service celebrating the life of Neil Armstrong, Sept. 13, 2012, at the Washington National Cathedral.

Apollo 17 Commander Receives NASA's First Moon Rock Award

NASA.

NASA presented its first Ambassador of Exploration Award to former astronaut Gene Cernan, who commanded the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission, during a May 12, 2005 ceremony at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. The award features a piece of moon rock and will remain on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

Astronauts and Cosmonauts Sightseeing in Moscow's Red Square

NASA

A group of astronauts and their cosmonaut hosts are photographed sightseeing on Red Square in the heart of Moscow during a tour of the Soviet capital. The Americans were in the USSR to participate in Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) familiarization training on the Soyuz systems at the Cosmonaut Training Center (Star City) near Moscow. Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford (light coat, black cap), commander of the American ASTP crew, was head of the U.S. delegation to Star City. Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan (on Stafford's left, light coat) is the Special Assistant to the American Technical Director of ASTP. The sightseeing group is walking in the direction of Lenin's Mausoleum. The structure in the background is the Cathedral of the Intercession (St. Basil's) Museum. The historic Kremlin complex is to the right.

ptscientists-moon-rover-apollo17c

PTScientists

Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, the "last man on the moon," talks with members of the PTScientists moon mission team.

'The Last Man on the Moon' Poster

Mark Stewart Productions

Movie poster for the new documentary "The Last Man on the Moon,” opening Feb. 26, 2016.

'Last Man on the Moon' Premiere in Houston

collectSPACE.com

Apollo, space shuttle and space station astronauts surround Gene Cernan, Apollo moonwalker, at the Houston premiere of "The Last Man on the Moon" on Feb. 25, 2016.

Gene Cernan, the Last Man on the Moon

collectSPACE.com

Astronaut Gene Cernan and "The Last Man on the Moon" director Mark Craig at the Houston premiere of the new documentary, Feb. 25, 2016.

Gene Cernan's Apollo 17 Helmet

National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian's new exhibit contains NASA astronaut Gene Cernan's helmet from his A7-LB spacesuit on Apollo 17, December 1972.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.