Gene Cernan on the Moon during the final EVA of the Apollo 17 mission, Dec. 13, 1972 (NASA/JSC scan) On December 14, 1972, at about 5:40 a.m. GMT, Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Andrew “Gene” Cernan returned to the lunar module Challenger after the end of the third mission EVA to join Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, completing nearly two and a half days of surface operations within the Taurus-Littrow site an