Who was the final person to walk on the Moon during Apollo 17?

Eugene Cernan was the final person to walk on the Moon during Apollo 17.

Cernan commanded Apollo 17, NASA’s sixth and final crewed lunar landing mission. He and geologist Harrison Schmitt explored the Taurus–Littrow valley in December 1972, while Ronald Evans remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module.

Before leaving the surface, Cernan climbed the lunar-module ladder and became the last person to step off the Moon. His closing remarks emphasized that humanity’s lunar presence would continue through future exploration, although no astronauts returned to the lunar surface for decades.

Cernan is sometimes confused with Schmitt, who was the only professional geologist to walk on the Moon. Both men conducted extensive fieldwork, but Cernan was the mission commander and the last person to depart the lunar surface.