Trending

Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, dead at 82

Retired Navy Captain and commander of Apollo 17 Eugene Cernan testifies during a hearing before the House Science and Technology Committee May 26, 2010 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. 

The last man to walk on the moon has died, according to NASA.

The government agency took to Twitter to remember retired astronaut Gene Cernan on Monday.

NASA said that Cernan logged more than 566 hours in space, 73 of which were on the moon.

Cernan served in Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 and Apollo 17 missions in the 1960s and 1970s. Cernan served as spacecraft commander of Apollo 17, the last scheduled manned mission to the moon for the United States, in December 1972. 

"People say, 'What was it really like up there?' Or they'll ask, 'Did you find God?' What I remember was that I felt like I had shaped up," Cernan said in a 2016 documentary. "We saw some dazzling, extraordinary things, and you had to take time to appreciate them ... Not too many people get to see an Earth-rise.""

He since received a number of awards and decorations for his work.

Read more at NASA.