# @lifeatpurdue on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFC_u6rzQS
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2476875-lifeatpurdue-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4893c254de.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-12-12T19:01:13.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Purdue University (@LifeAtPurdue) — https://gondola.cc/LifeAtPurdue

## Caption

What would you say to your loved ones if you were leaving on a trip and knew you might not return?

In the case of #Boilermaker astronaut Eugene Cernan (BSEE ’56), we know the answer.

Among the personal documents that Cernan donated to PurdueArchives was a letter he wrote to his mother, Rose, before departing on the Apollo 10 mission. NASA considered Apollo 10 to be the “dress rehearsal” for the Apollo 11 mission, where Cernan’s fellow Boilermaker, Neil Armstrong, became the first human on the moon. As commander of the #Apollo17 mission three years after Armstrong, Cernan became the most recent person to walk on the lunar surface, on Dec. 14, 1972.

The letter to his mother, dated May 17, 1969, shares the mixture of excitement and apprehension Cernan felt ahead of the Apollo 10 mission, while at the same time attempting to comfort his mom as he prepared to explore the unknown. It’s a touching, intimate reminder of the conflicting emotions that astronauts and their families must have felt while acknowledging the dangerous circumstances involved with the missions they accepted.

Here are Cernan’s words:

Dear Mom,

As you are reading this now, if God willing, we are on our way and almost to the moon – a quarter-million miles away.

Mom – I wanted to write this to say to you I love you very much and always will. I want you to be happy and excited about this flight as I am. It has to be the most challenging adventure of my whole life.

You know I would never go anywhere or do anything that was deliberately dangerous. Mom – I want to go on this mission so very much – nothing of this nature is without a little apprehension, but this makes the rewards even more meaningful.

Think of us when you look up at the moon at night.

Take care, I love you – be proud, happy, and excited.

Your son –

Gene

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## Tags

apollo17, boilermaker

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