The last of the Moon men: the stories of the surviving Apollo astronauts

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnNASABy Ben FellBBC NewsThey were the pioneers of space exploration – the 24 Nasa astronauts who travelled to the Moon in the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.Now, in 2024, the race to put people back on the lunar surface is set to heat up once again. On Monday, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur – one of the private competitors to Elon Musk’s SpaceX – is scheduled to take off on its maiden Moon mission, carrying Astrobotic’s Peregrine 1. Peregrine aims to be the first US craft to make a soft lunar landing since the Apollo programme. And, in November, Nasa hopes to launch Artemis 2, its first crewed lunar expedition in more than 50 years. It hopes the new programme will lead to astronauts living on the Moon this decade. China is also hoping to have people on the lunar surface by 2030.These planned launches highlight the sad fact that the number of remaining Apollo astronauts is dwindling. The programme’s Ken Mattingly and Frank Borman died within a few days of each other late last year. Now only eight people who have voyaged beyond the Earth’s orbit remain. Who are they, and what are their stories?Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11)NASAOn 21 July 1969, former fighter pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin left his lunar landing craft and became the second person to step on the surface of the Moon. Almost 20 minutes beforehand, his commander, Neil Armstrong, had been the first. Aldrin’s first words were: “Beautiful view”. “Isn’t that something?” asked Armstrong.”Magnificent sight out here.” “Magnificent desolation,” replied Aldrin.The fact that he was second never sat comfortably with him. His crewmate Michael Collins said Aldrin “resented not being first on the Moon more than he appreciated being second”.But Aldrin was still proud of his achievement; many years later, when confronted by a man claiming Apollo 11 was an elaborate lie, the 72-year-old Aldrin punched him on the jaw.And following Neil Armstrong’s death in 2012, Aldrin said: “I know I am joined by many millions of others from around the world in mourning the passing of a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew.” Despite struggles in later life, he never lost his thirst for adventure and joined expeditions to both the North and South Poles, the latter at the age of 86.This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on TwitterThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.Skip twitter post by Dr. Buzz AldrinAllow Twitter content?This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy and privacy policy before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.Accept and continueThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.While embracing his celebrity, he has remained an advocate for the space programme, especially the need to explore Mars. “I don’t think we should just go there and come back – we did that with Apollo,” he says.And his name has become known to new generations as the inspiration for Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series of films. In January 2023, at the age of 93, he married for a fourth time.Bill Anders (Apollo 8)NASAIn December 1968, Bill Anders flew on Apollo 8, the first mission in which humans travelled beyond low Earth orbit, and the first crewed flight to reach and orbit the Moon. When the spacecraft came out from behind the Moon for the fourth pass across its face, the crew witnessed an “Earthrise” for the first time in human history, Anders capturing the moment on film.The first colour photo of Earth taken from space is widely credited with motivating the global environmental movement and leading to the creation of Earth Day, an annual event to promote activism and awareness of caring for the planet.NASASpeaking of the moment, Anders said: “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing that we discovered was the Earth.” Following his retirement from the space programme in 1969, Anders largely worked in the aerospace industry for several decades. He also served as US Ambassador to Norway for a year in the 1970s.Charles Duke (Apollo 16)There are only four people still alive who have walked on the Moon – Charlie Duke is one of them. He did it aged 36, making him the youngest person to set foot on the lunar surface. In a later BBC interview, he spoke of a “spectacular terrain”. “The beauty of it… the sharp contrast between the blackness of space and the horizon of the Moon… I’ll never forget it. It was so dramatic.”But he had already played another significant role in Nasa’s exploration of the Moon. After Apollo 11 touched down in 1969, it was Duke – in mission control as the Capsule Communicator, or Capcom – who was waiting nervously on the other end of the line when Neil Armstrong said: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” NASAIn his distinctive southern drawl, Duke replied: “Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground, you’ve got a bunch of …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]