{"id":51403,"date":"2017-01-16T20:47:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T00:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-396026"},"modified":"2023-07-26T14:51:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T18:51:10","slug":"family-statement-regarding-the-passing-of-apollo-astronaut-eugene-cernan-last-man-to-walk-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/family-statement-regarding-the-passing-of-apollo-astronaut-eugene-cernan-last-man-to-walk-on-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Statement Regarding the Passing of Apollo Astronaut Eugene Cernan, Last Man to Walk on the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The family of Apollo Astronaut Capt. Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, announced that he passed away today following ongoing health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> \u201cIt is with very deep sadness that we share the loss of our beloved husband and father,\u201d said Cernan\u2019s family.  \u201cOur family is heartbroken, of course, and we truly appreciate everyone\u2019s thoughts and prayers. Gene, as he was known by so many, was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> \u201cEven at the age of 82, Gene was passionate about sharing his desire to see the continued human exploration of space and encouraged our nation\u2019s leaders and young people to not let him remain the last man to walk on the Moon,\u201d the family continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Humbled by his life experiences, particularly as an Apollo Astronaut, the retired Naval officer recently said, \u201cI was just a young kid in America growing up with a dream. Today what\u2019s most important to me is my desire to inspire the passion in the hearts and minds of future generations of young men and women to see their own impossible dreams become a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cernan is survived by his wife, Jan Nanna Cernan, his daughter and son-in-law, Tracy Cernan Woolie and Marion Woolie, step-daughters Kelly Nanna Taff and husband, Michael, and Danielle Nanna Ellis and nine grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we say goodbye, it seems fitting to share the last line in Gene\u2019s book, THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON<i>, <\/i>as he explains his experience of walking on the Moon to his then five-year-old granddaughter, \u201cYour Popie went to Heaven. He really did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Details regarding services will be announced in the coming days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-end-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob Jacobs\/ Allard Beutel<br>\nHeadquarters, Washington<br>\n202-358-1600<br>\n<a href=\"mailto:bob.jacobs@nasa.gov\">bob.jacobs@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ <a href=\"mailto:allard.beutel@nasa.gov\">allard.beutel@nasa.gov<\/a><br>\nGwen Griffin \/ Melissa Wren<br>\nCernan Family Media Contacts<br>\n281-300-4681 \/ 281-827-4269<br>\n<a href=\"mailto:gwen@griffincg.com\">gwen@griffincg.com<\/a> \/ <a href=\"mailto:melissa@griffincg.com\">melissa@griffincg.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The family of Apollo Astronaut Capt. Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, announced that he passed away today following ongoing health issues.  \u201cIt is with very deep sadness that we share the loss of our beloved husband and father,\u201d said Cernan\u2019s family.  \u201cOur family is heartbroken, of course, and we truly appreciate [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":68322,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"17-008","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"RELEASE","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[3215,2867],"news-tags":[12348],"internal-terms":[9516,9508],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Family Statement Regarding the Passing of Apollo Astronaut Eugene Cernan, Last Man to Walk on the Moon","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/family-statement-regarding-the-passing-of-apollo-astronaut-eugene-cernan-last-man-to-walk-on-the-moon\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/family-statement-regarding-the-passing-of-apollo-astronaut-eugene-cernan-last-man-to-walk-on-the-moon\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cernan_on_moon.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cernan_on_moon.jpg"},"articleSection":"Humans in Space","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NASA"}],"creator":["NASA"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["NASA Centers & Facilities","NASA Headquarters","Former Astronauts"],"dateCreated":"2017-01-17T00:47:00Z","datePublished":"2017-01-17T00:47:00Z","dateModified":"2023-07-26T18:51:10Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Family Statement Regarding the Passing of Apollo Astronaut Eugene Cernan, Last Man to Walk on the Moon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/family-statement-regarding-the-passing-of-apollo-astronaut-eugene-cernan-last-man-to-walk-on-the-moon\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cernan_on_moon.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2017-01-17T00:47:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Humans in Space\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities,NASA Headquarters,Former Astronauts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"NASA\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":2,"featured_image":{"id":68322,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cernan_on_moon.jpg","title":"Cernan Jump Salutes Flag","alt":"Eugene A. Cernan, Commander, Apollo 17 salutes the flag on the lunar surface during NASA's final lunar mission.","caption":"Eugene A. Cernan, Commander, Apollo 17 salutes the flag on the lunar surface during extravehicular activity (EVA) on NASA's final lunar landing mission. The Lunar Module \"Challenger\" is in the left background behind the flag and the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) also in background behind him. While astronauts Cernan and Schmitt descended in the Challenger to explore the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon, astronaut Ronald E. Evans, Command Module pilot, remained with the Command\/Service Module (CSM) \"America\" in lunar-orbit."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/51403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/51403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127690,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/51403\/revisions\/127690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51403"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=51403"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=51403"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=51403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}