On Friday, legendary American astronaut Buzz Aldrin celebrated his 93rd birthday with a special gift – a wedding. The hero of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, which saw him become the second human to step foot on the Moon, married his longtime girlfriend Anca Faur at a private ceremony.
“On my 93rd birthday, I am happy to announce that my longtime love, doctor Anca Faur, and myself have married,” Aldrin tweeted, with a photo of him and his bride. “We were united in the sacred bonds of marriage in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles and are as excited as runaway teenagers.”
Faur is a chemical engineer, with a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, who has worked for chemical companies Union Carbide and Johnson Matthey. She was also the treasurer of the California Hydrogen Business Council.
Aldrin’s fourth marriage is a symbol of long-lasting love; his three previous marriages ended in divorce. This year, his third mission companion Michael Collins, who piloted the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin made their famous walk on the surface of the Moon, died in April 2021. Armstrong passed away in 2012.
Since leaving Nasa in 1971, Aldrin has remained a strong advocate of space travel. The Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon is home to a crater bearing Aldrin’s name.