Gene Cernan, last man to walk on moon, dies at 83

The last man to walk on the moon died Monday at age 82. Eugene "Gene" Cernan, a retired Navy captain, was one of 14 space explorers that NASA picked in October 1963. The  reason for his death was not instantly known. 

He guided the Gemini 9 mission close by charge pilot Tom Stafford, and was the second American to stroll in space. 

Cernan was one of just two space travelers to travel to the moon on two events, the second time as authority of Apollo 17, the last mission to the moon. Altogether, Cernan spent over 73 hours on the satellite's surface.

Apollo's moon-landing mission was on the surface for three days. Cernan and crewmate Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt complete excursions to nearby craters and the Taurus-Littrow mountains.

Thanks, NASA! We made a virtual reality moon walk with your awesome pics

"America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow," he said as he left the lunar surface. "As we leave the moon and Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind."

Two years earlier, NASA had announced that Apollo 17 would be the final mission of the Apollo program. Apollo 18, 19 and 20 had been canceled in favor of the Skylab space station, which launched May 14, 1973, but crashed to earth July 11, 1979, after its orbit began decaying.

Born in Chicago, Cernan logged more than 5,000 flight hours before becoming an astronaut. After retiring from the space program in 1976, Cernan worked as an executive vice president of Coral Petroleum Inc. in Houston and later founded Cernan Corp., which provided management and consulting services in the aerospace and energy industries.

Cernan and his wife, Jan Nanna Cernan, had three daughters and one grandchild.