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The U.S Space agency NASA has continued its discovery of the moon since the Apollo 17, but at least 40 years have gone when one of its astronauts stepped on the surface of moon. The retired U.S Navy captain & famous astronaut of NASA Gene Cernan has passed away at the age 82. Cernan was the second American to walk in the space and set foot on the moon during a special mission to reach the surface of moon. Point to be noted that Cernan spent at least 500 hours in the space and spent at least 73 hours on the surface of the moon during his time as astronaut.

The U.S Navy Captain (retired) Gene Cernan was born in 1934 and started his career with NASA in 1963. He made his first trip to space in 1966 as a part of the 3-day Gemini IX mission. He also served as the lunar module pilot in 1969 for the Apollo 10 mission prior to take the role of spacecraft commander for Apollo 17 in the month of December 1972. The Apollo 17 was considered the last manned mission to the moon in the United States history. The Cernan was retired in 1976 from the U.S Navy after spending his 20 years career and he also left NASA just after his retirement from U.S Navy.