Harrison Hagan Jack Schmitt, First Scientist to Step on the Moon, Passes Away at 89
Legacy of a Trailblazing Geologist and NASA Pioneer
Silver City, New Mexico - July 3, 2023
Harrison Hagan Jack Schmitt, the last astronaut to walk on the Moon and the first scientist to do so, has passed away at the age of 89. Schmitt was a geologist, NASA astronaut, university professor, and former U.S. senator from New Mexico.
Schmitt was born on July 3, 1935, in Silver City, New Mexico. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology in 1957 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in geology from Harvard University in 1964. He worked as a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey before joining NASA in 1965.
In 1972, Schmitt was selected as part of the crew of Apollo 17, the final mission of the Apollo program. During the mission, Schmitt and Commander Eugene Cernan became the twelfth and last humans to walk on the Moon. Schmitt's scientific observations and the lunar samples he collected on the mission have contributed significantly to our understanding of the Moon's geology and history.
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