Review: The Last Man on the Moon

After forcing my kids to watch The Right Stuff, Apollo 11 and Apollo 13, figured I'd close things out by watching The Last Man on the Moon.

My interest in Gene Cernan started when I learned he had commanded the Apollo 10 mission. Everyone knows Apollo 11; Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were household names (Michael Collins a bit less so, but I knew it). But I wondered if the Apollo 10 guys ever felt slighted, like someone would if they were just one number off from winning the lottery jackpot.

Well, according to Gene Cernen, no.

The Last Man on the Moon gets his perspective on his life as an astronaut, including the Gemeni 9A flight (with its difficult spacewalk), the Apollo 1 tragedy, and the Apollo 10 mission.

That mission did everything the Apollo 11 did, with the exception of actually landing on the moon. It was the dress rehearsal before the opening night; the walk before the run. Yet Cernan was not upset about that; to the extent Apollo 11 wa succesful, it was in part because of his contributions to the space program.

The Last Man on the Moon also discusses Cernan's personal life, including his relationship with his children and his first wife. Cernan admits he was a bad father and a bad husband because of all the time he spent away from his family. It's clear that the "work first" mentality took a toll on those who were closest to him.

Cernan's most notable accomplishment is, of course, that he commanded the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. In doing so, he remains the last man to have walked on the moon -- a fitting reward, I think, for someone who just missed out on being the first.