American astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, flies to Sydney for movie premiere
IT has been nearly 42 years since Gene Cernan was the last human to walk on the moon and he can’t understand why we haven’t been back.
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CAPTAIN Gene Cernan has been to the moon and back but he can’t fathom an Aussie accent.
Speaking to The Mosman Daily from his home in Houston, the former astronaut admitted he was struggling to understand my alien Australian accent.
For instance, asked if God’s presence had been evident on the moon, Captain Cernan replied:
“A dog? On the moon? What?”
It was tempting to declare “Houston, we have a problem!”.
However, Captain Cernan gallantly persevered with the interview.
The veteran of three space missions, Captain Cernan is landing in Australia for the Australian premiere of his film The Last Man on the Moon.
Four decades later and now a fit 82, Captain Cernan is literally the last man to have stepped on the moon.
He will be appearing at the Cremorne Orpheum on May 30 to personally introduce the documentary which is based on his autobiography of the same name.
Captain Cernan will also attend a screening in Perth on May 27. He is keen to visit Perth because he saw it from space and he also wants to try a Swan Lager.
The popularity of both film and book lies in the deeply personal nature of Captain Cernan’s story, including the struggle for his family while he was an astronaut “eight days a week.”
“It wasn’t good for your personal life,’’ he said
“I was in the spotlight while my wife was home paying bills and fixing skinned knees.’’
In the film, his first wife declares: “If you think going to the moon is hard, you ought to try staying at home”.
Captain Cernan says going to the moon now seems like a dream.
“And you can’t walk around for the rest of your life with a sign around your neck saying I’ve been to the moon,’’ he laughed.
When he stepped off the moon’s surface for the last time, he left his footprints and his daughter’s initials in the lunar dust.
“When I was up there and saw the sun set on Texas, I would think about my littler daughter having an early dinner, saying her prayers and going to bed,’’ he said.
Captain Cernan said he didn’t see God on the moon.
“But I stood on his front porch and looked back on a small part of the universe he’s created,’’ he said.
Captain Cernan said he was struck by the beauty of the earth and the darkness of space that “goes on forever”.
“It is all too beautiful to have happened by accident,’’ he said.
Contrary to the eerie deadly quality of the moon captured in films, Captain Cernan says he felt the moon was “alive and dynamic”.
Captain Cernan flew three space missions. He was one of 14 astronauts selected by NASA in 1963 on the Gemini IX mission.
During the mission, Captain Cernan spent more than two hours outside the spacecraft on extravehicular tasks.
On his second space flight in 1969, he was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 10.
The mission mapped landing sites on the moon and a few months later Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission.
Captain Cernan’s third space flight was as mission commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last manned mission to the moon.
The crew of Apollo 17 spent three days on the moon and along with lunar module pilot Harrison H. Schmitt, Captain Cernan drove a lunar roving vehicle a total distance of 35.9 kms.
Captain Cernan says he finds it absurd that 44 years has passed since anyone set foot on the moon despite the huge advances in space travel and he admits he gets irate about it.
But he says part of his reason for taking part in the film was to inspire the next generation to return to the moon.
Captain Cernan will take part in a Q & A session at the Cremorne Orpheum at 12.30pm and 7.30pm on May 30.
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au
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