Who Left His Family Photo on the Moon?

Charles Moss Duke Jr. is the first youngest human being and the tenth astronaut to walk on the moon at 36 years. Here are a few facts about him and his family photo on the moon.

Duke was selected for NASA’s fifth astronaut group among 18 others for exceptional skills as a fighter pilot. This selection was the turning point in his life that eventually led newspapers to print “Astronaut Charlie Duke’s Photo on the Moon” later on April 16, 1972.

Before flying to the moon, Duke worked as an astronaut support crew for Apollo 10, CAPCOM for Apollo 11. He was appointed as the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 13. He got assigned to command module pilot of Apollo 13 after he exposed the then pilot Ken Mattingly to rubella (German Measles) accidentally.

He left his family portrait on the moon since he wanted to make it up to his children for devoting a lot of time to astronaut training and not being with them in Houston, Texas.  He promised his kids that he would take them to the moon. During his Apollo 16 mission, he left his family photo wrapped in plastic and fulfilled his promise metaphorically.

After working for Apollo 17, Charles Duke retired from NASA and rejoined the air force, where he was promoted to brigadier general in 1979.

Charles was awarded the Texan of the Year award in 2020 and is now spending his retirement years in New Braunfels, Texas, spreading the Lord Jesus Christ’s Gospel.

In a recent interview, Charles said that he is sure that his footprints on Descartes Highlands, Moon would still be prominent because there was no wind to blow it away. Still, he was not sure about the photo due to the acute fluctuation in temperatures on the surface of the moon and its effects on the plastic wrap.