Professional Career, 1960 - 2017, bulk: 1960 - 1994

This series contains records pertaining to Cernan's professional career in the United States Navy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well as contextual materials. Holdings concern Cernan's participation in both the Gemini and Apollo programs and include interview transcripts, awards and congratulatory correspondence. Of special note are telegrams from President Richard Nixon and then-California Governor Ronald Reagan. Also included is correspondence relating to Cernan's retirement from the Navy in 1976 as well as public recognition for his achievements as an astronaut, including a celebration of Apollo XVII in Cernan's hometown of Bellwood, Illinois. Supplementary holdings include vaccination certificates and personal passports.

Holdings in this series also include copies of official NASA documents pertaining to the Apollo program, especially Apollo XVII. These include a report on communications systems aboard the Lunar Module, a press kit for Apollo XVII, and the Apollo Program Summary Report.

Finally, this series contains two special artifacts which accompanied Cernan aboard Apollo XVII. The first is a glove which comprised part of Cernan's space suit during his activities on the lunar surface. The second is the "LM Lunar Surface Maps" book which was also utilized during activities on the lunar surface during the Apollo XVII mission. This book contains a complete set of twenty-four plastic map segments detailing the Taurus-Littrow Valley, the landing site for Apollo XVII.

Additional records pertaining to Cernan's professional career in both the Navy and NASA can be found in Series 4: Writings and Speeches, Sub-Series 2: The Last Man on the Moon Files, especially in Folder 1 of Cernan's personal research files for Book (Box 26).