Buzz Aldrin turns 92, oldest of remaining moonwalkers

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Apollo 11 astronaut and the second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin talks in front of a Apollo 14 crew capsule at the Apollo Treasures Gallery at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch.
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29 years after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, NASA honors all of its fallen astronauts on Remembrance Day, Jan. 28, 2015.
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In this 1973 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Owen K. Garriott floats in front of the Apollo Telescope Mount console in the Multiple Docking Adapter of the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. The space agency said Garriott died at his home in Huntsville, Ala., on Monday, April 15. 2019. He was 88. (NASA via AP)
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The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986. The shuttle broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, after an O-ring seal failed. People all over the country viewed the disaster live because the shuttle was carrying Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.
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FILE - In this 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts from left, Col. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot; Neil Armstrong, flight commander; and Lt. Michael Collins, command module pilot, stand next to their spacecraft. Collins, who piloted the ship from which Armstrong and Aldrin left to make their historic first steps on the moon in 1969, died Wednesday, April 28, 2021, of cancer, his family said. He was 90. (AP Photo/File)
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Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin poses next to the U.S. flag July 20, 1969 on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
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Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee boarding their Apollo 1 spacecraft.
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Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel into space, died after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61 years old.

By Richard Tribou | rtribou@orlandosentinel.com | Orlando Sentinel

PUBLISHED: January 20, 2022 at 9:42 a.m. | UPDATED: January 20, 2022 at 2:42 p.m.

Buzz Aldrin has made it around the sun 92 times, one year shy of the number of minutes he spent walking on the moon.

Aldrin, who landed with Neil Armstrong to become one of the first two, and to date, one of only 12 people, to walk on the lunar surface, was born on a Monday, on Jan. 20, 1930.

Apollo 11 astronaut and the second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin talks in front of a Apollo 14 crew capsule at the Apollo Treasures Gallery at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch.

At age 39, as a member of Apollo 11, he joined Armstrong stepping foot on the moon after they landed in the Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969. He spent one hour and 33 minutes outside the spacecraft.

Aldrin, who is active on Twitter earlier this week praised the 60th anniversary of the founding of Kennedy Space Center.

“Without their steadfast support, our historic lunar mission would not have been achieved,” Aldrin wrote.

The only nonagenarian, Aldrin is the oldest remaining moonwalker, and last remaining Apollo 11 crew member alive. Armstrong died in 2012 and the command module pilot Michael Collins, who orbited the moon, died in April 2021.

FILE – In this 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts from left, Col. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, lunar module pilot; Neil Armstrong, flight commander; and Lt. Michael Collins, command module pilot, stand next to their spacecraft. Collins, who piloted the ship from which Armstrong and Aldrin left to make their historic first steps on the moon in 1969, died Wednesday, April 28, 2021, of cancer, his family said. He was 90. (AP Photo/File)

He commemorated the day he, Armstrong and Collins were chosen for the mission in a post earlier this month.

“It was an tremendous privilege to join my crewmates on the mission of a lifetime. I will never forget this special moment,” his post said.

Other moonwalkers who have died include Apollo 12’s Pete Conrad (1999) and Alan Bean (2018), Apollo 14’s Alan Shepard (1998) and Edgar Mitchell (2016), Apollo 15’s James Irwin (1991), Apollo 16’s John Young (2018) and Apollo 17’s Eugene Cernan (2017).

Those still alive are Apollo 15’s David Scott, 89, Apollo 16’s Charles Duke, 86, and Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt, 86.

Several more astronauts who flew to the moon, but didn’t land, are alive as well. They include Apollo 8’s Frank Borman, 93, Apollo 8 and 13’s Jim Lovell, 93, Apollo 8’s Bill Anders, 88, Apollo 10’s Tom Stafford, 91, Apollo 13’s Fred Haise, 88, and Apollo 16’s Ken Mattingly, 85.

Those who have traveled to the moon, but did not land, but have passed away include Apollo 12’s Dick Gordon (2017), Apollo 13’s Jack Swigert (1982), Apollo 14’s Stu Roosa (1994), Apollo 15’s Al Worden (2020) and Apollo 17’s Ron Evans (1990).

NASA is looking to return humans to the moon, including the first woman and the first person of color, this decade.

The Artemis program, which looks to send its first uncrewed flight, Artemis I, with the new Orion capsule to orbit the moon as early as March this year, won’t return humans to orbit the moon until May 2024 at the earliest.

The planned lunar landing of two people on Artemis III won’t happen until 2025, under the latest NASA timeline projections.

If a landing were to happen in 2025, Aldrin would turn 95 that year.

For his part, Aldrin plans on being around, sending congratulations to the most recent pool of astronaut candidates.

“I will always treasure my service as an astronaut on Gemini and Apollo,” he posted earlier this month. “Congratulations to the all these patriotic space trailblazers as they begin their two-year training to become @NASA_Astronauts. Looking forward to seeing all of you on future lunar and Martian missions!”