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Author
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Topic: Apollo 17: Last man to walk on the moon
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4allmankind
Member Posts: 1068
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-04-2004 09:25 PM
   
I decided to decorate the longest wall in my condo with signed framed photos of moonwalkers while photographed on the lunar surface. I do the framing myself so under each photo I cut a hole for a nameplate. For Apollo 17, I framed my favorite signed Gene Cernan pose. For the nameplate I wrote his name, mission and "11th and last man to walk on the moon."A visitor was in awe of the shots one day and asked me the names of the 11 moonwalkers. I explained there were 12 and how Cernan was the first one out and the last one in. She decided to butt heads with me and proclaim that the last man out of the 12, Harrison Schmitt, should be considered the true last man on the moon. The history books say otherwise but is Schmitt technically the true last man on the Moon? Your thoughts? Anyone else have a problem explaining it others? Does anyone call Schmitt the last man? |
R.Glueck
Member Posts: 115
From: Winterport, Maine, USA
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted 08-04-2004 09:42 PM
Schmitt was the last man to step onto the lunar surface in order of their visitation. Cernan was the last man to step off the surface onto the lunar module. I've no doubt that this qualifies him as the last man on the moon. I think the dialog that has you questioning his status was simply word play on Jack's part to generate a tease at Gene. You can say with assurance, Jack Schmitt was the only qualified geologist to roam on another world. That distinction is far more important in my opinion. |
collshubby
Member Posts: 591
From: Madisonville, Louisiana
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-04-2004 09:49 PM
I would say that you are right. Cernan was the last man to stand on the moon.Person A walks into a room, followed by Person B a minute later. Ten minutes later Person B walks out of the room, followed one minute later by Person A. Who would you say was the last person in that room? |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1068
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-04-2004 09:54 PM
I see both your points and thanks for your inputs. Brian, as per your A/B example isnt it a fact that person B was the last person to enter the room (the moon) making him the latter (2nd, 12th etc) visitor? Of course I understand that Gene Cernan is the last man on the moon, but devils advocate says otherwise, no? |
collshubby
Member Posts: 591
From: Madisonville, Louisiana
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-04-2004 10:07 PM
True, true... I see your point. Man, this is a good one to mull over! |
cklofas
Member Posts: 221
From: Euless,TX USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 08-04-2004 10:59 PM
The really fun part is to ask that question at an event where both are appearing. The resulting sparring is as hilarious as it is touching. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6084
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 08-05-2004 05:09 AM
"Last" man on the moon? That doesn't matter... All that matters is the "first" man on the moon, the "first" person on Mars, etc. We'll revisit the moon so there's no "last" man on the moon. |
Madon_space
Member Posts: 679
From: uk
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 08-05-2004 06:20 AM
So in reality Gene Cernan's title is just a temporary one where as Neil Armstrong's will belong to him forever! |
Jake
Member Posts: 467
From: Issaquah, WA U.S.A.
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 08-05-2004 10:36 AM
I think Jack should write a book and call it "The Last Man Off the Moon" since the crew has a pretty good attitude towards humor...  |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3152
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 08-05-2004 10:44 AM
But Jack wasn't the last man off the moon either... you could however argue that he was the last man to step (down) onto the moon. |
Jake
Member Posts: 467
From: Issaquah, WA U.S.A.
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 08-05-2004 11:27 AM
I have a friend who is in publishing and a number of years ago he had dinner at a major event. He happened to be seated at Gene Cernan's table. When he asked Gene what he did for a living Gene replied that he was doing some writing. "Oh, I'm in publishing, what is the title of your book?" "The Last Man on the Moon," Gene replied. "And what is it about?" my friend stated. "It's about ME, I was the last man on the moon."My friend was embarrassed, since he did not know who he had been talking with. It goes to show how many of these pioneers can go about their lives without being recognized. My friend has gone on to know Gene quite well — the two have actually done some flying together — but it was an interesting start! |
spaceman1953
Member Posts: 953
From: South Bend, IN
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 08-05-2004 09:56 PM
I wrestled with this "last man on the moon" thing for years now, figured it was just my psychosis that allowed me to do it but see now that you all have finally come to my side of the world.As has been mentioned, Cernan was 11th to walk, Schmitt was the last man, no. 12, and then when they got back up the ladder, Cernan then gets "the last man to walk on the moon" rights. Picturing the 12 moonwalkers, I put Schmitt in the 12 o'clock position. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1068
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-05-2004 10:15 PM
After all of these replies I'm just glad it wasn't only me that was wrestling with this!We clearly have not come to a conclusion but what can all agree on is that 12 is still an awfully small number when compared to all those whom have lived in history. Number 11 or 12 would have suited me just fine. |
Clio
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
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posted 08-06-2004 10:43 AM
Jumping in late here. As a writer (and fairly neurotic about language), I consider Cernan to be the last man ON the moon. Schmitt was the last man to walk ONTO the moon. But it sure would be fun to watch the two of them talk about it! |
Voskhod
Member Posts: 72
From: Oxfordshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-06-2004 10:53 AM
Gene Cernan: The last man to walk on the moon in the 20th Century. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3277
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 08-06-2004 05:11 PM
Without delving too deeply into the tortured world of semantics, let's bear in mind that "last" can either mean, literally, the last ever; or it can mean "the latest" (or last so far). Gene Cernan is the latest man on the Moon. Someone alive today will be the next man (or woman) on the moon. And at that point, Gene Cernan will become the 11th man on the moon and Jack Schmitt the 12th man on the moon. |
mikepf
Member Posts: 447
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 08-06-2004 08:18 PM
How about "last man of the first men on the moon"? Semantics! My brain hurts me! |
Richard
New Member Posts: 5
From: Morrisonville, New York USA
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted 08-06-2004 11:59 PM
So, does that make Neil Armstrong the second man on the moon? |
mark plas
Member Posts: 385
From: the Netherlands
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-07-2004 12:57 AM
Armstrong was the second man to leave the moon, Cernan the twelfth and so the last. |
usafspace
Member Posts: 165
From: Los Angeles, CA USA
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-19-2021 07:02 PM
Who was the last man to walk on the moon? I have a lot of photos signed by Gene Cernan stating "the last man on the moon," but Alexa just corrected me telling me that it was Jack Schmitt. So what's up with that? Editor's note: Threads merged. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1529
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 03-19-2021 08:03 PM
The last man to step on the moon was Jack Schmitt (ladder descent), the last man to leave his bootprints on the moon was Gene Cernan given (ladder ascent) after Jack was back in the LM. |
MartinAir
Member Posts: 35
From:
Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 03-19-2021 08:06 PM
Jack is the last, but not forever.  |
gareth89
Member Posts: 337
From: Ireland
Registered: May 2014
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posted 03-19-2021 08:21 PM
...I think Alexa needs correction. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1824
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-20-2021 10:54 AM
Jack was the last man to step onto the moon. Gene was the last man on the moon, before he became the last man off the moon. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3277
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-20-2021 10:59 PM
Jack Schmitt's ongoing memoirs of Apollo 17 are entitled "Diary of the Twelfth Man." Of the twelve men to climb down LM ladders, Schmitt was the twelfth and last, but there is no doubt that, since Schmitt climbed back into the LM while Cernan remained on the surface, Cernan is correctly remembered (as of 2021) as "the last" man on the Moon, in the sense that he made the last footprints, and no-one has been back yet. I remember Cernan publicly bemoaning the fact that he was STILL "the last man on the Moon" 40 years and more after Apollo. He would have been delighted to watch live TV of someone else claiming his "title." In a few years he should posthumously get his wish and will then become known as "the eleventh man on the Moon." But however you look at it, the gap between 12th and 13th has been too long. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1635
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 03-21-2021 08:39 AM
As a young boy watching and enthralled by the Apollo lunar landings, if you had told me that I'd be 60 years old and people would not have returned to the moon, I would have been absolutely crushed. I took it as an article of faith that by 2021 we'd have bases on the moon and Mars, and would have sent humans to the outer planets. Now I'm just hoping I live long enough to see the 1st human step on to the surface of Mars, but I'm not taking any bets. |
minipci
Member Posts: 406
From: London, UK
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 03-21-2021 08:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
In a few years he should posthumously get his wish and will then become known as "the eleventh man on the Moon."
Or perhaps "The last Apollo astronaut on the Moon." |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3277
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-22-2021 10:50 AM
Fair enough! |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 479
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 03-22-2021 05:38 PM
If the next couple of moonwalkers are women perhaps Cernan gets to keep his title of "last man" on the moon for awhile longer past Apollo? |
RobertB
Member Posts: 217
From: Israel
Registered: Nov 2012
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posted 03-22-2021 11:02 PM
That's only if Olivia Mann isn't the next person on the Moon |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1068
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 03-23-2021 08:01 AM
Side note — I read this entire thread, getting to the bottom and about to weigh in with my opinion when I realized that I was the original poster... 17 years ago. Wow, what a blast from the past and blessed to still be around and still a proud member of this site. Just felt the need to say that. |
Buel
Member Posts: 748
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 03-23-2021 05:45 PM
Wow!! I enjoyed this!! |
AstronautBrian
Member Posts: 301
From: Louisiana
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 03-24-2021 02:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by 4allmankind:
She decided to butt heads with me and proclaim that the last man out of the 12, Harrison Schmitt, should be considered the true last man on the moon.
If she wants to tangle over the issue again, ask her if she follows you into a room, then she walks out and you follow her, who was the last person in the room? |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 479
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 03-24-2021 04:50 PM
To have fun and carry this debate a bit further, when NASA flew Dr. Shoemaker's cremated remains to the moon does that invalidate Cernan's title since Dr. Shoemaker now gets to be a permanent man on the moon for all the ages? |
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