On the 56th anniversary of Apollo 11’s Moon landing, Buzz Aldrin shared a moving tribute honoring the mission’s unsung heroes and echoing JFK’s timeless challenge: ‘We choose to go… not because it is easy, but because it is hard.’
Buzz Aldrin is the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong passed away in 2012, and Michael Collins passed away in 2021
#Apollo11 … 56 years ago today.
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The landing phase of Apollo 11 mission began at 20:05 GMT on 20 July 1969.
Just under 13 minutes later, at 20:17 GMT, Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong landed the Eagle on the Moon. Bleeps+seconds refer to landing fuel left.“The Eagle has landed” pic.twitter.com/GNkAavEXWU
— Dr B (@DrB2you) July 20, 2025
The last surviving Apollo 11 crew member, now 95, revisited the iconic moment he and Neil Armstrong made history—while Michael Collins ‘orbited close-by’—calling it a triumph of ‘incalculable effort.’
Buzz Aldrin is photographed by Neil Armstrong on the moon hours after they landed, 56 years ago tonight, July 20, 1969. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/rGFPGGnuCp
— Spiro’s Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) July 20, 2025
NEW: Pope Leo had a Zoom meeting with Buzz Aldrin to honor the 56th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. pic.twitter.com/piARrSL0jI
— Christopher Hale (@chrisjollyhale) July 20, 2025
This evening, 56 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, I spoke with the astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Together we shared the memory of a historic feat, a testimony to human ingenuity, and we reflected on the mystery and greatness of Creation.
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) July 20, 2025
Legendary astronaut Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. shared a heartfelt message on the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, recalling the historic moment when the lunar module Eagle landed at Tranquility Base.
The 95-year-old, who in 1969 walked on the Moon behind mission commander Neil Armstrong, reminisced about the iconic moment they shared while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module.
“July 20, 1969. “Contact light, engine stop.” The Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touched down at Tranquility Base on the Moon. A few hours later, Neil Armstrong and I stepped foot on the Moon, with Michael Collins orbiting close-by,” Aldrin wrote in a post on X.
Aldrin emphasized that this monumental achievement stemmed from years of relentless effort, unwavering dedication, and the teamwork of hundreds of thousands.
“An achievement resulting from years of incalculable effort, commitment, and team work.”
Aldrin invoked President John F. Kennedy’s powerful challenge to reach the Moon and see Kennedy’s “words become reality.”
“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others too,” Aldrin wrote, sharing Kennedy’s speech he had given at Rice University in September 1962.
The speech, delivered to inspire national unity and ambition, set the stage for achieving the decade’s most audacious goal.
“Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the Moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked,” Kennedy’s speech concluded, according to the JFK Library.
Aldrin closed with a message of pride and gratitude, honoring all who made the mission possible and extending his blessings to the United States and all of humanity.
“I couldn’t be prouder to have completed this mission with the hundreds of thousands of people that helped get us to the moon and back home. God bless the USA and all of humankind,” Aldrin wrote.
The Apollo 11 mission was the first in human history to land men on earth’s satellite, fulfilling a dream as old as humanity itself.
Armstrong was the first astronaut to step on the lunar surface at 9:56 p.m. ET on July 20, 1969.
He was followed 19 minutes later by Aldrin.
Aldrin is the only one of the three astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission still alive today.