CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – When beloved former astronaut Buzz Aldrin needed a medical evacuation from Antarctica, New York Air National Guard pilots were at the ready.
Aldrin, 86, touched down here early Friday and was transferred to a hospital, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Aldrin was one of the two men who first walked on the moon's surface in 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 lunar mission.
The NSF agreed to provide a humanitarian medical-evacuation flight for Aldrin from its Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to McMurdo Station on the Antarctic coast and then to New Zealand.
The request to NSF, which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, came on Dec. 1 (local time, U.S. stations in Antarctica keep New Zealand time) from White Desert, a private tourism firm with whom Aldrin was traveling.
Ski-equipped LC-130 cargo planes flown by the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard provide the air bridge between the South Pole and McMurdo. Aldrin transferred to the aircraft in McMurdo.
Contributing: National Science Foundation