Before he was the last man on the Moon, Gene Cernan nearly died in space.

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Long before his historic final steps on the lunar surface, Gene Cernan faced a terrifying, near-fatal spacewalk during the 1966 Gemini IX-A mission. His suit turned rigid in the vacuum, his vision failed, and he became trapped in a desperate struggle to survive outside his spacecraft, nearly ending his career prematurely.

In June 1966, Eugene Cernan became only the third human to walk in space. The mission, Gemini IX-A, was already haunted by tragedy; the original prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, had died in a T-38 crash just months earlier. Cernan and commander Tom Stafford, originally the backups, were thrust into the lead role. The mission was plagued by technical failures, including the loss of the primary target vehicle and a docking adapter that arrived in orbit with its shroud still attached, resembling an 'angry alligator' that made docking impossible.

Cernan’s primary goal was to test the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU), a backpack with control rockets. However, the environment proved unforgiving. Once outside, Cernan found his pressure suit became as stiff as a 'rusty suit of armor' in the vacuum. Lacking proper handholds and footholds, he struggled to move, causing him to sweat so profusely that his visor fogged over, leaving him nearly blind. The cooling system, which relied on oxygen circulation, was overwhelmed by his physical exertion.

With his heart rate climbing to dangerous levels, Stafford ordered Cernan to abandon the test. The return to the cockpit was a harrowing ordeal in itself, as Cernan, in excruciating pain, fought to bend his rigid suit to re-enter the craft. This experience provided NASA with critical, albeit painful, lessons on the realities of extravehicular activity. Cernan would later redeem this difficult start, serving as lunar module pilot on Apollo 10 and eventually commanding Apollo 17, where he became the last human to walk on the Moon in December 1972.

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