A former Navy attack pilot and retired American astronaut and businessman, Gene Cernan holds the distinction of being the last human being to have walked the lunar surface (1972).

On his third space flight, he served as Commander of Apollo 17. It was the last manned mission to the moon for the United States in the 20th Century. Cernan spent 75 hours on the lunar surface, including a record 22 hours and 6 minutes of Extravehicular Activity (EVA) snapping photographs and collecting samples

Previously, aboard Gemini 9, Cernan had been the second American to walk in space, logging 2 hours and 10 minutes of EVA. His subsequent Apollo 10 flight was considered the dress rehearsal for the later Apollo 11 mission in which a lunar landing finally occurred. Cernan is also remembered for his assistance in the planning, development and evaluation of the joint U.S./U.S.S.R. Apollo-Soyuz mission. Captain Cernan has logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space. After serving 20 years as a Naval Aviator, Captain Cernan retired from the United States Navy in July 1976 and concurrently terminated his formal association with NASA.