Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the surface of the moon, is backing Mitt Romney, saying that Romney has a more realisitc vision for the future of America’s space program.  Speaking to Eric Bolling on the Fox News Channel, Cernan said that he believes Newt Gingrich’s plan to colonize the moon by 2020 is unrealistic, and explained that he believes Romney would have the better plan for manned space missions going foreward.  Cernan cited the amount of time Gingrich gave to put a space station on the moon, and the enormous cost of such a project, as reasons that Gingrich’s plan was not sound.  Bolling asked Cernan point-blank at the end of the interview if he was, in fact, endorsing Mitt Romney.  Cernan replied, “If that’s what you want to call it, then yes, I’m endorsing Mitt Romney.”

Cernan flew into space three times in the 1960′s, and was the commander of the Apollo 17 mission in 1969, the last mission to the moon’s surface.  Cernan was the last of the crew to re-enter the lunar module, giving him the distinction of being “the last man to walk on the moon.”