The Last Man on the Moon; Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. Third Printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Michael Storrings (Cover Photograph). xii, 356 pages. Illustrations. Index. DJ is price clipped. Signed by both authors on the title page. Eugene Andrew Cernan (March 14, 1934 - January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh man to walk on the Moon. As he reentered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he is the last man to walk on the Moon as of 2022. Before becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and joined the U.S. Navy. After flight training, he received his naval aviator wings and served as a fighter pilot. In 1963 he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Achieving the rank of captain, he retired from the Navy in 1976. In October 1963, NASA selected Cernan as one of the third group of astronauts to participate in the Gemini and Apollo space programs. Cernan traveled into space three times and to the Moon twice: as pilot of Gemini 9A in June 1966, as lunar module pilot of Apollo 10 in May 1969, and as commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo lunar landing. Cernan was also a backup crew member of the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions. He is featured in the space exploration documentary In the Shadow of the Moon in which he said, "truth needs no defense" and "nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the Moon away from me". Donald Alan Davis (born October 5, 1939) is an American writer, novelist and former war correspondent. He is a writer of military histories, military thrillers, and, along with Jack Coughlin, is co-author of the New York Times bestselling book, Shooter. Eugene Cernan is a unique American who came of age as an astronaut during the most exciting and dangerous decade of spaceflight. His career spanned the entire Gemini and Apollo programs, from being the first person to spacewalk all the way around our world to the moment when he left man's last footprint on the Moon as commander of Apollo 17. Between those two historic events lay more adventures than an ordinary person could imagine as Cernan repeatedly put his life, his family and everything he held dear on the altar of an obsessive desire. Written with New York Times bestselling author Don Davis, this is the astronaut story never before told - about the fear, love and sacrifice demanded of the few men who dared to reach beyond the heavens for the biggest prize of all - the Moon. Derived from a Publishers Weekly article: Gemini and Apollo astronaut Cernan, helped by Don Davis, takes readers with him on one great space adventure after another--including Gemini 9's "Spacewalk from Hell," Apollo 1's fire, Snoopy's hair-raising swoop by the lunar surface. Readers experience the agony of life-or-death decision making in the Apollo 13 control room, exult with Cernan and geologist Jack Schmitt throughout the mission of Apollo 17 and meet legendary characters of the astronaut corps and the technical and political leaders who shared their glory. Cernan reveals the risk-taking, competitive personality and oversized self-confidence that drove his success as a test pilot and astronaut. He also acknowledges his failings as a husband to his first wife, Barbara, whom he presents as a quiet, strong homefront heroine who always found the right words in public despite her private difficulties. Careful readers may see more of Cernan than he intended to display. His admiration and friendship may justify letting Wernher von Braun and Spiro Agnew off the hook for what many consider their political and personal misdeeds. This is an exciting, insider's take on what it was like to become one of the first humans in space.