At Purdue, Cernan was also president of the Quarterdeck Society and the Scabbard and Blade, and a member of the Phi Eta Sigma honor society and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. After attending McKinley Elementary School in Bellwood, and graduating from Proviso Township High School in Maywood in 1952, he studied at Purdue University where he became a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, serving as a treasurer. He was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Second Class. Cernan grew up in the Illinois towns of Bellwood and Maywood. He had one older sister, Dolores Ann (1929–2019). His father was of Slovak descent and his mother was of Czech ancestry. Cernan was also a backup crew member of the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions.Ĭernan was born on March 14, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois he was the son of Andrew George Cernan (1904–1967) and Rose Cernan ( née Cihlar 1898–1991). Achieving the rank of captain, he retired from the Navy in 1976.Ĭernan 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. In 1963, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. After flight training, he received his naval aviator wings and served as a fighter pilot. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains the most recent person to walk on the Moon.īefore becoming an astronaut, Cernan graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and joined the U.S. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to walk on the Moon. Damage to an organism’s DNA can occur during normal biological processes or as a result of environmental causes, such as UV light.Eugene Andrew Cernan ( / ˈ s ɜːr n ə n/ March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. In humans and other animals, damaged DNA can lead to cancer. Fortunately, cells have several different natural strategies by which damaged DNA can be repaired. Astronauts traveling outside of Earth’s protective atmosphere face increased risk of DNA damage due to the ionizing radiation that permeates space. Therefore, which specific DNA-repair strategies are employed by the body in space may be particularly important. Previous work suggests that microgravity conditions may influence this choice, raising concerns that repair might not be adequate. However, technological and safety obstacles have so far limited investigation into the issue. Now, Stahl-Rommel and colleagues have developed a new method for studying DNA repair in yeast cells that can be conducted entirely in space. The technique uses CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology to create precise damage to DNA strands so that DNA repair mechanisms can then be observed in better detail than would be possible with non-specific damage via radiation or other causes. The method focuses on a particularly harmful type of DNA damage known as a double-strand break. NASA Astronaut Christina Kock performing the experimental procedure aboard the International Space Station. The researchers successfully demonstrated the viability of the novel method in yeast cells aboard the International Space Station. They hope the technique will now enable extensive research into DNA repair in space.
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