Ronald Evans
Apollo 17 command module pilot; orbited the Moon alone while Cernan and Schmitt landed.
Last refreshed: 5 April 2026
Ronald Evans was the last human to orbit the Moon alone; why has no one done it since?
Latest on Ronald Evans
- Who was the command module pilot on Apollo 17?
- Ronald Evans flew the Command Module on Apollo 17, orbiting the Moon alone for around 75 hours while Cernan and Schmitt worked on the surface.Source: NASA
- What happened to Ronald Evans after Apollo?
- Evans died on 7 April 1990, aged 56, of a heart attack. He was one of 24 humans who flew to the Moon and did not return to space after Apollo 17.
- Why is Artemis II compared to Apollo 17?
- Artemis II is the first crewed mission to enter the lunar sphere of gravitational influence since Apollo 17 in December 1972, when Evans, Cernan, and Schmitt made the last crewed lunar voyage.Source:
Background
Ronald Evans was the Command Module Pilot on Apollo 17, the final crewed lunar landing in December 1972. While Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt descended to Taurus-Littrow, Evans orbited the Moon alone for approximately 75 hours in the Command Module, conducting orbital science observations. He returned with the crew on 19 December 1972, completing the last Apollo mission.
Evans was the last person to have orbited the Moon alone until future Artemis missions resume lunar orbital crewed flights. Orion’s crossing into the lunar sphere of gravitational influence on Day 5 of Artemis II marked the first time a crewed spacecraft had done so since Evans’ mission.
Evans died on 7 April 1990, aged 56, of a heart attack. He is one of only 24 humans to have travelled to the Moon. He served as a US Navy commander and naval aviator before his NASA career.