The LuLac Edition #2300, December 19th, 2012

Gene Cernan on the moon. (Photo: Gene.Cernan.com) 

LAST MAN STANDING…. ON THE MOON 

Today marks the 40th anniversary of man returning to earth from the Moon. Astronaut Eugene Cernan’s Apollo 17 capsule landed in the South Pacific Ocean at 19:24 military time. We are writing this 40 years and minutes to the day. Cernan’s fellow crew mates were Ronald Evans (Command Module Pilot) and Harrison Schmidt (Lunar Module pilot). The mission was a success for the following reasons: 
1. There were lunar trips on the rover where Cernan and Schmidt entered Taurus-Litrow Valley. 
2. Both deployed various scientific instruments that relayed results back to earth.
3. It was the first evening launch by NASA. This proved that NASA could do that type of lift off which was a precursor to the Space Shuttle flights. 
Cernan has said many times that he expected to have a successor walking on the moon. He told National Public Radio earlier this month that he fully expected to shake the hand of that person before he died. Cernan is 78 years old. With space funding on the ropes as well as a new focus on Mars, it appears that Cernan’s achievement might stand on its own for a very long time. 40 years has passed and Cernan is still the guy that left the final footprints of man on the lunar service, far, far away and high, high above.