posted 01-17-2017 09:06 PM               

This morning going out of the house on my way to the office I noticed the waning gibbous moon high in the SW sky. I stopped and took a few moments to remember Mr. Cernan and all those before him. I thought about what it must have been like for Gene Cernan to have looked up for the last 45 years vividly recalling his incredible adventure.

The Los Angeles Times today printed a quote from Gene Cernan which made my observation this morning very poignant. "Those steps up that ladder, they were tough to make," Cernan recalled in a 2007 oral history. "I didn't want to go up. I wanted to stay a while."

Cernan called it "perhaps the brightest moment of my life... It's like you would want to freeze that moment and take it home with you. But you can't."

I believe that frozen moment he spoke of was the twinkle in his eye when we watched him passionately speak of his mission. There was something very special there and to those of you who met him, you were so very fortunate to have experienced him first hand.

posted 01-18-2017 09:08 AM               

The night of Mr. Cernan's passing, I re-watched "Last Man on the Moon." It was very cathartic, given my somber state with his passing.

Two things hit me hard, though. One was the photo session with his grandchildren during the feature film. The other was the extra feature with him at his eventual gravesite.

My heart goes out to the grandchildren and other family and friends of Mr. Cernan. While I understood him impersonally as one of my heroes, they knew him personally as father, husband, grandfather, friend, and many more titles that I'm missing.

posted 01-18-2017 04:25 PM               

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Honors Life of Astronaut Eugene Cernan at Remembrance Ceremony

A ceremony was held at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex this afternoon to honor Gemini and Apollo astronaut and naval aviator Captain Eugene Cernan, who passed away on January 16, 2017.

Above: Robert Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and space shuttle astronaut Jon McBride, following remarks at today's Remembrance Ceremony honoring the life of astronaut Eugene Cernan.

Held at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inside Heroes & Legends, the ceremony included remarks by Therrin Protze, chief operating officer, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex; space shuttle astronaut Jon McBride; and Robert Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and space shuttle astronaut.

"We are saddened of the loss of our American hero, Astronaut Gene Cernan. As the last man to place footsteps on the surface of the moon, he was a truly inspiring icon who challenged the impossible," said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "People throughout generations have been and will forever be inspired by his actions, and the underlying message that what we can achieve is limited only by our imaginations. He will forever be known as 'The Last Man on the Moon," and for the extraordinary impact he had on our country and the world."

After being one of 12 astronauts to walk on the moon, Cernan retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy in 1976, but continued to advise NASA as a consultant. As an astronaut, Cernan left an indelible impression on the moon when he scratched his daughter's initials in the lunar surface alongside the footprints he left as the last human to walk on the moon. Guests of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex can learn more about Cernan's legacy at the new Heroes & Legends exhibit, where his spacewalk outside the actual Gemini IX space capsule is brought to life through holographic imagery.

posted 01-19-2017 11:29 AM               

One bright moonlit night in Florida, as we headed back to the ABC News workspace at the Kennedy Space Canter, astronaut Gene Cernan turned to me and pointed up to the big yellow ball in the sky.

"You see that spot just by the 'eye?'" he asked me, referring to the unmistakable face of the Man in the Moon. "You see that? That's where I landed. That's the Valley of Taurus-Littrow."

The grin on his own face was boundless; the pride, palpable. The last human to leave his footprints on the lunar surface knew he'd had the experience of a lifetime.

How lucky we were as a nation, and as a space-going species, to have Gene Cernan, who died Monday at the age of 82, as one of us. His enthusiasm for space travel and his ability to convey its wonders were marvels. And he did it with the precision of an engineer and the artistry of a poet...

posted 01-24-2017 05:00 PM               

Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan, last man on the moon, mourned at funeral

Family, friends and fellow astronauts mourned the death of Eugene Cernan, the last man to step foot off the moon, at a funeral service Tuesday (Jan. 24).

Cernan, who died on Jan. 16 at age 82, was remembered as "perhaps the best representation of a patriotic American that this country had" during the ceremony, which was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston and broadcast live by NASA on its television channel.

"An excellent aviator and outstanding astronaut," said Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13, who was on the back-up crew for Cernan's first mission. "We will miss you Gene — an extraordinary individual, who added another chapter in the history of spaceflight."

posted 01-29-2017 04:46 PM               

Perhaps we should take time to remember this quote, spoken from the surface of the moon, at the close out of the last EVA of Apollo 17, as he read from the plaque installed on the leg of the LM.

"Here man completed his first exploration of the moon. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind."