LOS ANGELES: Legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the Moon, said he had married his longtime girlfriend on Friday, his 93rd birthday.

Aldrin and Anca Faur, executive vice president of Buzz Aldrin Ventures, were wed in a private ceremony. “On my 93rd birthday... I am pleased to announce that my longtime love Dr Anca Faur & I have tied the knot,” Aldrin tweeted along with pictures of himself and Faur, who is reportedly 63.

“We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles & are as excited as eloping teenagers.” According to her LinkedIn profile, Faur earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996 and had previously worked for Union Carbide and Johnson Matthey before joining Buzz Aldrin Ventures. She had also served as treasurer for the California Hydrogen Business Council. Aldrin’s three previous marriages ended in divorce.

The US astronaut is the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 mission, during which he and Neil Armstrong become the first people to set foot on the Moon, on July 20, 1969.

Michael Collins, who piloted the command module while his crewmates walked on the lunar surface, died in April 2021 and Armstrong died in 2012.

Since retiring from Nasa in 1971, Aldrin has remained a strong advocate of space exploration. A crater on the Moon near the Apollo 11 landing site is named in his honor.

Published in Dawn, January 22th, 2023