Last astronaut to walk on the moon dies at age 82

Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82 in his hometown of Texas.

NASA reports that Cernan died after succumbing to on-going health issues.

“Gene’s footprints remain on the moon, and his achievements are imprinted in our hearts and memories,” Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement released by NASA.

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During his career at NASA, the former Navy pilot became one of three people to travel to the moon twice, having also been aboard Apollo 10, the so-called “dress rehearsal” for the first moon landing.

He also became the second American to walk in space as a pilot on the harrowing Gemini 9 mission.

On December 7, 1972, NASA’s Apollo 17 mission took off under the command of Cernan. Four days later, the crew touched down on the lunar surface. It was Cernan’s third and final trip to space — and, as it would turn out, the final time to date that NASA would send a team to walk on the moon.

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