US astronaut Gene Cernan – the last man to walk on the Moon – has died aged 82.
America’s space agency Nasa said it was “saddened by the loss” of the retired spaceman.
Captain Cernan was one of only three people to go to the Moon twice and the last man to leave a footprint on the lunar surface in 1972.
The final words he spoke there were: “We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind.” He was the commander of the Apollo 17 mission at the time.
Cernan had travelled into space twice before that – in 1966 and 1969. A qualified naval aviator, he was selected into the third group of Nasa astronauts in 1963.
He retired in 1976, going into private business and contributing to US television channels on a variety of issues.
Cernan also produced a documentary film about his life, which he discussed at length in this BBC interview in 2014. Cernan was born on 14 March 1934, in Chicago.
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