Now Up To The 'Middle Men' To Carry On The Spirit Of Apollo

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has marked the passing of his colleague Gene Cernan with a remembrance posted on his website.

Aldrin writes that he and Cernan first met in 1963 when both were selected for the astronaut corps. While Aldrin says he left NASA before Cernan made the Apollo 17 flight, he recalls that Cernan was not happy about his status as the "last man on the moon." He had hoped for a continuation of the lunar exploration program.

"Gene was probably the strongest spokesman for astronauts for lunar travel and advocating a return to the moon. He made multiple trips to Washington to give testimony along with Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell to promote NASA and not losing our pioneering spirit. He wasn’t really a Mars guy like me, but he cared deeply about continuing manned space exploration," Aldrin writes.

Aldrin says that Cernan will be remembered for his "cheerful, smiling approach to everything," and with the passing of both Cernan and Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, "it is up to us Middle Men to carry on spirit of Apollo into the future for our Nation and the world."

(NASA image)

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