Astronaut Gene Cernan paused for one final look at Earth from the surface of the Moon before climbing the ladder into his spaceship and closing the hatch on 's last lunar mission more than 50 years ago.Before firing his lunar module's thrusters, the commander of 1972's Apollo 17 mission had delivered a solemn message from space for mankind: 'As I take Man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I'd like to just say what I believe history will record: that America's challenge of today has forged Man's destiny of tomorrow.'For decades until his death aged 82 in 2017, Cernan was frustrated that, for all his brave words on the edge of the Moon's Sea of Serenity, humans never mustered the political will to return and he was left to bear the title of 'Last Man on the Moon'.
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