89 Year Old Buzz Aldrin Gets Emotional, Feels Lucky To Have Walked On Moon 50 Years Ago

Exactly fifty years ago, humanity dared to jump highest it had ever jumped and tried to touch the face of the moon. And with successful moon landing of Apollo 11, two very lucky men walked where no man had walked before.

Only one of those man is still alive. And 89 year old Buzz Aldrin feels nothing but good fortune and gratitude, when he looks back to the historic manned moon landing from half a century ago.

NASA // Buzz Aldrin on the moon

Hale, hearty, and extremely active on Twitter for his age, retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin has become a shining symbol of human ingenuity and pioneering spirit.

You'd imagine the second guy in the world to set foot on the surface of the moon to be a celebrity or sorts (which he is, mind you), but Buzz Aldrin tempers that side of his personality by keeping both his feet firmly planted to the ground.

He knows he was unimaginably fortunate to have been picked to ride on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon landing, and feels a deep sense of gratitude for everyone who made the historic feat possible after all these years.

50 years ago today, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I launched into space on a mission of enormous importance. God bless the 400,000 Americans who helped us get to the moon and back. Together, we Americans can do anything! Never forget July 16, 1969! #Apollo50 pic.twitter.com/lX6456UO2N

¡ª Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 17, 2019

The veteran astronaut took to his Twitter profile to broadcast a special message on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

"Never forget July 16, 1969," Buzz Aldrin says in his Twitter video, mentioning how along with Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins he went into "space on a mission of enormous importance."

He thanked the 400,000 Americans who worked behind the scenes to get him and Neil Armstrong on to the surface of the moon and back, those hidden figures whose efforts were as valiant and brave as the twin duo that instantly became famous when they landed on the moon.

Looking ahead, Buzz Aldrin hopes to see America's leading role in the next phase of humanity's space alliance. And with NASA expected to launch a Mars rover in 2020 and raise the curtain on their new Orion Project, and private US entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos caught in a heady space race, it's safe to assume the years ahead will be full of space exploration and space travel.