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Former astronaut Gene Cernan, a Navy pilot and veteran of NASA’s pioneering Gemini program who was the second American to walk in space and then flew to the moon twice as an Apollo astronaut, died Monday after a long illness. Cernan, 82, was the last human to leave his bootprints on the moon’s dusty surface.
NASA announced Cernan’s death on its web page, saying the former astronaut died “surrounded by his family.”
An eloquent and passionate advocate of space exploration long after he retired from NASA, Cernan was a familiar face on television news programs. He was an oft-quoted authority in print and a respected witness in countless Capitol Hill hearings where he frequently testified before committees considering NASA’s budget and other space issues.