Buzz Aldrin Evacuated From The South Pole

Celebrated former U.S. astronaut and engineer Buzz Aldrin was evacuated from the South Pole, according to a statement released Thursday by the National Science Foundation. 86-year-old Aldrin, who famously became the second person to walk on the moon in 1969, was reportedly traveling with a private tourism firm in Antarctica when the evacuation call was made. According to Time Magazine, Aldrin was ailing but in stable condition and will be taken to New Zealand via a New York Air National Guard plane as soon as possible.

Aldrin had taken to social media in recent days to express his excitement about going to the South Pole, which he had visited at least once before in 2010. On Nov. 28, he tweeted a photo of himself with his manager Christina Korp and inventor Professor Anthony Nobles, writing "We're ready to go to Antarctica!"

There are no updates yet from news outlets or his management team on the nature of his medical emergency or whether he has made it safely to New Zealand. As such, the questions on the minds of all Aldrin fans everywhere are, "What happened to Buzz?" and "Is Buzz going to be ok?" People have already taken to social media to wish Aldrin well and hope for his speedy recovery.

Despite completing his most famous mission 47 years ago, Aldrin has remained active in the scientific community and in the public eye. Most recently he was a guest on Neil deGrasse Tyson's show StarTalk TV on National Geographic Channel. There he discussed what would have happened had he and fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong had not returned from the moon.

Over the past several years, Aldrin has focused his attention on advocating for the colonization of Mars. He is frequently pictured shirts reading "Destination Mars" and "Get your ass to Mars." He sells the Mars-related merchandise as a fundraiser for Buzz Aldrin's ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is "dedicated to inspiring children’s passions for science, technology, engineering, arts and math."

Even though he is pushing 90, Aldrin's energy and work are inspiring to many. Here's hoping that he has many more adventure-filled years of life ahead of him.