Buzz Aldrin’s Journey Through Time and Space
Legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, has been closely following the Artemis II mission this week. At 96 years old, he watched the spacecraft’s launch on Wednesday and was described as ‘absolutely amazed’ by his longtime friend Steven Barber.
Documentary filmmaker Mr Barber, 65, shared that Buzz has been in a spirited mood all week. He’s been watching Artemis and is particularly impressed with how many of his ideas have been used over the years. According to Mr Barber, Buzz is giddy about the mission and keeps saying: ‘Now it’s time to occupy Mars!’
Buzz became an iconic figure when he became the second man to set foot on the moon’s surface after Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Armstrong passed away in 2012.
The Artemis II flight marks the first time NASA has sent astronauts on a moon mission since December 1972 when the Apollo program ended.
Last October, Buzz was heartbroken after the ‘love of his life’, fourth wife Dr Anca Faur, 66, died after battling a virulent cancer. Since then, he has been learning to laugh and smile again.
Mr Barber said: ‘You could see the joy in his eyes. He has the NASA feed on his TV all day. This is an awesome thing for him to watch.’
‘To know NASA is going back to the moon so many years after he and Neil Armstrong first set foot there makes Buzz very happy. He told me he was glad we were going back. He said: This is fantastic. They are following in our footsteps. It is long overdue.’
Following his wife’s death, friends feared for Buzz’s wellbeing as he struggled to cope, refusing to eat and saying at one point: ‘I don’t know how I am going on without her. I don’t know if I want to live without Anca.’
But, as these exclusive Mail on Sunday photographs show, Buzz is enjoying time with friends again.
Mr Barber, who has known Buzz since 2001, told the MoS last night: ‘Buzz has always been a fighter and he is doing much better. He is learning to laugh and smile again and his sense of humour is back. Many of us were desperately worried when Anca died. She was the love of his life and he never expected her to go first.’
They were living in her tiny apartment in Los Angeles and he was overwhelmed with grief when she passed and kept saying he didn’t know how he would live without her. The place was piled high with clutter and we (his friends and family) were incredibly worried for his welfare. He lay on his bed and the life seemed to be draining out of him. I thought he would die of a broken heart.
But he’s a fighter. He’s from that generation which never gave up. His family moved him into a lovely place overlooking the Pacific Ocean last December and he has three full-time nurses caring for him around-the-clock. Being in a new place and being well taken care of has made all the difference. His spark and zest for life is back.
When Buzz made history he was married to Joan Archer, mother of his three children – sons James and Andrew and daughter Janice – but that union ended after 20 years because of the astronaut’s self-professed alcoholism and womanising.
In his memoir, Return to Earth, Buzz wrote how, when the ticker tape parades ended, he sought solace in the bottom of a bottle ‘because I didn’t know what else to do. I was one of the most famous men on the planet but the mission was over. The plaudits died down and I sank into a deep depression.’
He had a brief three-year marriage to model Beverly Van Zile which ended in 1978 and then wed Lois Driggs Cannon in 1988. That marriage ended in 2012.
Mr Barber credits Buzz with saving his life when he met him at a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in December 2001. He said: ‘I was a terrible drunk. I was going to walk out but when I saw Buzz I thought: ‘Well, if this works for someone like him then maybe I should stay?’
The pair became firm friends and Barber – who has had three movies shortlisted for the Oscars – ended up raising the funds for an Apollo 11 bronze monument called ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ which sits outside the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Barber said: ‘I’m telling this story because people around the world care about him. He’s one of those handful of people who, when you say his name, everyone on the planet from London to Beijing to the mountains of Nepal, all instantly know who he is. He wants people to know he’s doing OK.’
