Eugene Cernan became the last human to walk on the Moon
On this day · 14 December 1972
On December 14, 1972, the commander of Apollo 17 climbed his ladder for the final time — and no one has walked on the Moon since.
On December 14, 1972, Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, stepped off the lunar surface for the last time. More than five decades later, he remains the last person to have walked on the Moon.
Apollo 17 was NASA’s sixth and final crewed lunar landing. Cernan and geologist Harrison Schmitt spent about 22 hours exploring the Taurus–Littrow valley across three moonwalks, driving a lunar rover while Ronald Evans orbited overhead. As Cernan reached the ladder, he spoke of leaving “with peace and hope for all mankind” and a promise to return.
“As we leave the Moon at Taurus–Littrow,” he said, “we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return.”
That return has not yet come. The Apollo 17 crew splashed down on December 19, 1972, closing the program — and, so far, the era of humans on the Moon.
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