The second man on the moon is getting married for a fourth time, as astronaut legend Buzz Aldrin announced he’d wed his longtime girlfriend on his birthday.
Mr Aldrin, who turned 93 on Friday and was part of the historic first-ever moon landing mission, made the sweet announcement to his new bride, who is 30 years his junior, on his Twitter account.
‘On my 93rd birthday & the day I will also be honored by Living Legends of Aviation I am pleased to announce that my longtime love Dr. Anca Faur & I have tied the knot. We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles & are as excited as eloping teenagers.’
Dr Faur, 63, currently works as the Executive Vice President of Buzz Aldrin Ventures LLC, with her LinkedIn page listing her as having worked for the company since 2019.
The second man on the moon is getting married for a fourth time, as astronaut legend Buzz Aldrin announced he’d wed his longtime girlfriend Dr. Anca Faur on his birthday in Los Angeles
Buzz Aldrin takes the first ever selfie in space in 1966 during the Gemini XII mission, showing the sun reflecting off his visor
She has a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and at one point was the treasurer for the California Hydrogen Business Council.
Mr Aldrin has been married and divorced three times prior, to Joan Ann Archer from 1954 to 1974, Beverly Van Zile from 1975 to 1978 and Lois Driggs Cannon from 1988 to 2012.
The second man to touch the surface of the moon has three children – James, Janice and Andrew – with first wife, Ms Archer.
He has one grandson, Jeffrey Schuss, from daughter Janice, three great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter.
Mr Aldrin is best known for saluting the US flag on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission.
He retired from NASA in 1971 and in 1998 founded the ShareSpace Foundation, a non-profit organisation to promote the expansion of crewed space exploration.
After entering the history books with Neil Armstrong, Mr Aldrin said he struggled through a dark time during which he did not know what he should be doing with his life.
He battled depression and alcoholism, but has now been sober for more than 40 years.
Aldrin, who turned 93 on Friday and was part of the historic first-ever moon landing mission, made the sweet announcement on his Twitter account
Quite the character: Buzz Aldrin also earned the nickname Dr. Rendezvous
Goal: Aldrin has written a number of books but in recent years has called for the colonisation of Mars
In 2002, Mr Aldrin escaped assault charges after punching a man who demanded he swear on a Bible that the moon landing was not staged.
Five years ago he also sued two of his children – Andrew and Janice – and his former business manager Christina Korp, alleging that they had stolen money from him and slandered his legacy by suggesting he had dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
He dropped the lawsuit in 2019 after his two children withdrew their petition seeking guardianship of his affairs.
In 2007, Mr Aldrin said he had recently had a face-lift, joking that the g-forces he was exposed to in space ’caused a sagging jowl that needed some attention’, while in 2016 he had to be evacuated from the South Pole after falling ill.
The retired astronaut has also stayed in the public eye by making cameo appearances in hit American television shows such as the Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons and 30 Rock.
Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear was even named in honour of Mr Aldrin.
He has written a number of books but in recent years has called for the colonisation of Mars.
The 92-year-old said a ‘great migration’ is necessary not only for the sake of exploration but for the ongoing survival of the human race.
Faur, 63, currently works as the Executive Vice President of Buzz Aldrin Ventures LLC, with her LinkedIn page listing her as having worked for the company since 2019. Here she is with Aldrin on Veterans Day in 2019
Faur has a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and at one point was the treasurer for the California Hydrogen Business Council
Faur is Buzz’s fourth wife, as Aldrin has been married and divorced three times prior, to Joan Ann Archer from 1954 to 1974, Beverly Van Zile from 1975 to 1978 and Lois Driggs Cannon from 1988 to 2012
From left to right, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, Jr. pose for a portrait in their space suits in front of a backdrop showing the Moon
Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins pose in front of a full scale model of the lunar module which will be carried by their spacecraft
Mr Aldrin made headlines last year after the jacket he wore on his historic first mission to the moon’s surface in 1969 was auctioned off to a bidder for nearly $2.8million (approximately £2.26million).
The jacket was worn to and from the moon. It is the only piece of clothing from the space flight that has ever been available for private ownership.
It displays Mr Aldrin’s name tag on the left breast above the Apollo 11 mission emblem, and the American flag on the left shoulder.
The jacket is made of a fire-resistant material known as Beta cloth that was incorporated in spacesuits in response to the fire that killed three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 in 1967, according to Sotheby’s.
The amount paid for the Apollo 11 Inflight Coverall Jacket is the highest for any American space-flown artifact sold at auction, according to Sotheby’s, which handled the sale.
It smashed pre-auction expectations by almost a third as bidders went crazy over the legendary jacket. The unidentified winner, who participated by phone, outlasted several others in a bidding that spanned almost 10 minutes.
Astronaut ‘Buzz’ Aldrin auctioned off the NASA jacket he wore to the moon, along with other artifacts from the historic Apollo 11 mission
The Inflight Coverall jacket, with the serial number 1039, was worn to and from the moon. It is the only piece of clothing from the space flight that has ever been available for private ownership
Pictured: Buzz Aldrin is seen on the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969, photo taken by Neil Armstrong
Apollo 11 astronauts Col. Edwin E. Aldrin, left, lunar module pilot, Neil Armstrong, centre, flight commander, and Lt. Michael Collins, right, command module pilot, stand next to their spacecraft in 1969
Buzz Aldrin pictured waving to the crowd during the Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2019 in New York City
What was the Apollo program and who are the astronauts who have been lucky enough to go to the moon?
NASA photo taken on July 16, 1969 shows the huge, 363-foot tall Apollo 11 Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module S/Saturn 506) space vehicle launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9:32 a.m. (EDT).
Apollo was the NASA programme that launched in 1961 and got the first man on the moon eight years later.
The first four flights tested the equipment for the Apollo Program and six of the other seven flights managed to land on the moon.
The first manned mission to the moon was Apollo 8 which circled around it on Christmas Eve in 1968 but did not land.
The crew of Apollo 9 spent ten days orbiting Earth and completed the first manned flight of the lunar module – the section of the Apollo rocket that would later land Neil Armstrong on the Moon.
The Apollo 11 mission was the first one to land on the moon on 20 July 1969.
The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, carrying mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon.
When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, ‘That’s one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.’
Apollo 12 landed later that year on 19 November on the Ocean of Storms, writes NASA .
Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the moon, but just under 56 hours into flight, an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to cancel the lunar landing and move into the Aquarius lunar module to return back to Earth.
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned lunar mission in the Apollo space program, and considered at the time the most successful manned space flight up to that moment because of its long duration and greater emphasis on scientific exploration than had been possible on previous missions.
The last Apollo moon landing happened in 1972 after a total of 12 astronauts had touched down on the lunar surface.
Astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin unpacking experiments from the Lunar Module on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Photographed by Neil Armstrong, 20 July 1969
Who has been to the moon?
1 + 2. Apollo 11 – July 21, 1969
Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first person to set foot on the moon.
Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong on to the surface of the moon. His popular nickname gave itself to the animated characte Buzz Lightyear.
3 + 4. Apollo 12 – November 19 and 20, 1969
Pete Conrad and Alan Bean were the moon walkers on the Apollo 12 mission.
The Apollo 12 crew experienced two lightning strikes just after their Saturn V rocket launched.
All the men who have been to the moon
5 + 6. Apollo 14 – February 5, 1971
Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell who were part of the Apollo 14 mission. They launched on January 31, 1971, and landed in the Fra Mauro region of the moon, the original destination for Apollo 13.
7 + 8. Apollo 15 – July 31, 1971
David Scott and James Irwin landed on the moon and stayed for three days, until August 2nd.
9 + 10. Apollo 16 – April 21 1972
John Young and Charles Duke were the next men to walk on the moon. When the crew reached lunar orbit, the mission almost had to be aborted because of a problem with Command/Service Module’s main engine.
11 + 12. Apollo 17 – December 11, 1972
The final people to walk on the moon were Eugene (Gene) Cernan and Harrison (Jack) Schmitt.
Before he left the moon, Cernan scratched the initials of his daughter Tracy into the lunar regolith. Since the moon does not experience weather conditions like wind or rain to erode anything away, her initials should stay there for a very long time.