Buzz Aldrin and (Dr) David Bowie

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Washington Post....

Buzz Aldrin being treated by a doctor named David Bowie
(yes) after South Pole evacuation

We are here for your “take your protein pills and put your helmet on” jokes.

By AMY B. WANG | 11:38AM EST - Tuesday, December 06, 2016


Buzz Aldrin, former NASA astronaut and Apollo 11 pilot, prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 24th, 2015.
— Photograph: Susan Walsh/Associated Press.

FILE THIS under “earth oddity”, perhaps.

Buzz Aldrin, the famed former NASA astronaut who was the second man to walk on the moon, had to be evacuated last Thursday from a personal expedition to the South Pole after exhibiting signs of altitude sickness.

But in a twist that, well, blows our minds, Aldrin landed at a hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he was treated by none other than … a David Bowie.

The physician shares his name, of course, with the famed singer David Bowie, who frequently morphed into space-loving alter egos for his songs and music videos. In July 1969, the musician released “Space Oddity”, a hit song that imagined the haunting journey of fictional astronaut “Major Tom” after losing contact with ground control.

Nine days later, the Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon, and Aldrin and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first humans to walk on its surface.

The musician David Bowie died earlier this year, on January 10th, two days after his 69th birthday. But were he still on earth, it's likely the “Ziggy Stardust” singer would have approved of Aldrin's coincidentally named doctor.

“Thank heaven @therealbuzz's [Buzz Aldrin's] doctor is David Bowie,” Aldrin's manager, Christina Korp, tweeted on Monday. “You can't make this stuff up.”



The 86-year-old Aldrin had been on a personal trip to Antarctica with the White Desert tour company, and arrived at the South Pole on November 29th, according to Korp. Aldrin was scheduled to stay there until December 8th but his “condition deteriorated” shortly after arrival, and he was evacuated on the first available flight out of the South Pole.

Aldrin landed in New Zealand early Friday morning local time, after what Korp said was a “grueling” evacuation. The former astronaut released a statement on Sunday saying he was recovering nicely at a hospital in Christchurch, the largest city on the country's South Island.

The trip to the South Pole was to be “the capstone of his personal exploration achievements,” as well as a chance to experience and study conditions that were more similar to Mars than any other place on Earth, Aldrin said.

“I didn't get as much time to spend with the scientists as I would have liked to discuss the research they're doing in relation to Mars,” he said in the statement, adding that he would continue to pursue research toward a permanent settlement on Mars. “You ain't seen nothing yet!”



The National Science Foundation, which covered the humanitarian medical evacuation flight, has since acknowledged that Aldrin now holds the record for the oldest man to reach the South Pole, according to Korp.

“He'll be insufferable now,” she tweeted last week as a joke, along with a photo of a grinning Aldrin in his New Zealand hospital bed.


In this Friday, December 2nd, 2016, photo provided by Christina Korp, right, Buzz Aldrin lies in
a hospital bed in Christchurch, New Zealand. Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was
evacuated from the South Pole to New Zealand where he was hospitalized in stable condition.
— Photograph: Christina Korp/Associated Press.

Aldrin, who will turn 87 in January, has not slowed down since his historic NASA missions. He traveled to see the Titanic in 1996 and to the North Pole in 1998, and remains one of the most outspoken advocates for space exploration and research. (Last year, Aldrin posted photos of himself wearing a shirt that said “Get Your Ass to Mars”.)

The feisty, smartphone-loving Aldrin has also remained very much in the public eye, once making an appearance on one season of “Dancing With the Stars” — where he did not last long but, of course, snuck in a moonwalk. The animated movie character Buzz Lightyear in the “Toy Story” franchise was reportedly inspired by Aldrin.

On Monday, Korp reported that David Bowie had declared Aldrin might be ready to take off again — for home — in one or two days.

• Amy B. Wang is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post.

__________________________________________________________________________

Related stories:

• ARCHIVE VIDEO: Buzz Aldrin sets foot on the moon

• Buzz Aldrin: Altitude sickness forced South Pole evacuation

• Buzz Aldrin gets visit from NASA after polar evacuation

• Buzz Aldrin recovers in New Zealand after polar evacuation

• ‘Ailing’ Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is safely evacuated from the South Pole

www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/12/06/buzz-aldrin-being-treated-by-a-doctor-named-david-bowie-yes-after-south-pole-evacuation

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Somewhere, I've got a copy of the airshow programme for Warbirds Over Wanaka 2004 with Buzz Aldrin's autograph scrawled on the page that contained the write-up about him. He was a special guest of honour that Easter and spent quite a lot of the time out mixing it amongst the crowd.

[ZacYates]

Dad and I had media passes for WOW 04 and I videoed his whole press conference...then "photobombed" when he had some photos with other kids! If only I knew where Dad left the photos...

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Washington Post....

Buzz Aldrin nearly died at the South Pole.
Why he insists ‘it was worth it, really’.

Aldrin made his comments in his first interview since recovering in a New Zealand hospital.

By PETER HOLLEY | 2:44PM EST - Wednesday, December 14, 2016


Buzz Aldrin, the former NASA astronaut, was medically evacuated from the South Pole, where he was visiting as part of a tourist group.
— Photograph: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images.

FOR MOST PEOPLE, developing altitude sickness at 9,000 feet in one of the most inhospitable environments on earth would count as a fairly substantial life crisis.

But most people are not Buzz Aldrin, the moonwalking American hero who rarely behaves like your average 86-year-old.

For the legendary astronaut, a brush with death at the end of the world was no big deal.

“I got out of breath,” he told the Today Show's Al Roker in his first interview since recovering from his daring expedition to the South Pole earlier this month.

“You know, that's nothing new, except that it's a little more concentrated,” he added. “It's cold, and you got a lot of heavy stuff and not much air to breathe up there.”









Aldrin, who in 1969 became the second person to walk on the moon, arrived at the South Pole on November 29th, according to a message from his assistant, Christina Korp, The Washington Post's Travis M. Andrews and Sarah Kaplan reported. He was scheduled to be there until December 8yh, but his “condition deteriorated” shortly after arriving, according to the White Desert tour company.

Aldrin was visiting the region with a tour group. He was taken to a hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he spent a week recovering from congestion in his lungs. His manager described the evacuation as “grueling” at the time, but noted that Aldrin was in good spirits as his body responded well to antibiotics.

In a statement posted on Twitter while he recovered in the hospital, Aldrin noted that his trip to the South Pole followed other “exploration achievements,” such as spacewalking “in orbit during the Gemini 12 mission in 1966,” walking on the moon and traveling to “the Titanic in 1996 and to the North Pole in 1998.”

“I'm extremely grateful to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their swift response and help in evacuating me from the Amundsen-Scott Science Station to McMurdo Station and on to New Zealand,” the statement said. “I had been having a great time with the group at White Desert's camp before we ventured further south. I really enjoyed the time I spent talking with the Science Station’s staff too.”

The National Science Foundation, which covered the humanitarian medical evacuation flight, has since acknowledged that Aldrin now holds the record for the oldest man to reach the South Pole, according to Korp.

“He'll be insufferable now,” she tweeted last week as a joke, along with a photo of a grinning Aldrin in his New Zealand hospital bed.

Despite his brush with death, Aldrin struck an upbeat tone in his interview with Roker and made it clear that he has no regrets about the risk he undertook or the suffering he experienced.

“When turning back is about as difficult as pressing on, you press on because you've got an objective, especially when they tell me that I just set a record — the oldest guy to the South Pole,” he said enthusiastically. “See now it was worth it!”

The interview also gave Aldrin a chance to reflect on the death of his legendary colleague and friend, John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn, who went on to become oldest astronaut in history, died on December 8th at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, at age 95.

Aldrin called his longtime friend a “typical, all-American guy.”

“I just admire that guy so much, even though he was a Marine,” added Aldrin, a West Point graduate who served in the Air Force. “But he knew how to fly that airplane, I could tell you that.”





The feisty, smartphone-loving Aldrin has also remained very much in the public eye, once making an appearance on one season of “Dancing With the Stars” — where he did not last long but, of course, snuck in a moonwalk. The animated movie character Buzz Lightyear in the “Toy Story” franchise was reportedly inspired by Aldrin.

Aldrin chronicled his ill-fated journey on Twitter, where he posted several photographs as he prepared to leave for Antarctica, including one showing him outside an airplane with the caption “South Pole here I come!”

Another tweet read: “We're ready to go to Antarctica! May be our last opportunity to tweet for a few days! We're go for departure to the launchpad!”

Another post-recovery photo included a joke: “I'm feeling much better and my rocket is ready for launch.”

Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey, as Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. He earned the nickname Buzz because his sister pronounced the word “brother” as “buzzer,” according to CNN.

In 1969, Aldrin, along with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, flew to the moon on the Apollo 11 mission. He became the second person to walk on the moon, after Armstrong.

• Amy B Wang contributed to this report.

• Peter Holley is a general assignment reporter at The Washington Post.

__________________________________________________________________________

Related stories:

• Buzz Aldrin being treated by a doctor named David Bowie (yes) after South Pole evacuation

• John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth, dies at 95

• ARCHIVE VIDEO: Buzz Aldrin sets foot on the moon

www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/12/14/buzz-aldrin-nearly-died-at-the-south-pole-why-he-insists-it-was-worth-it-really