Wife of legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin dies.

Dr. Anca Faur Aldrin died Tuesday just two years after the couple married, according to a statement posted Wednesday on Facebook by the Faur and Aldrin families. She was 66 years old.

“Dr. Anca Aldrin, wife of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, passed away peacefully last night with her husband and son, Vlad Ghenciu, at her side,” the statement read.

Faur was “an accomplished chemical engineer with a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh” and “served as treasurer of the California Hydrogen Business Council and as executive vice president of Buzz Aldrin Ventures LLC,” the statement said.

In a separate message to the statement, Aldrin, 95, paid tribute to his late wife, whom he married during a small ceremony on her 93rd birthday in 2023.

Buzz Aldrin and his wife, Dr. Anca Faur, first met at a work event in December 2017.
Buzz Aldrin and his wife, Dr. Anca Faur, first met at a work event in December 2017.

MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images via Getty Images

“I am very fortunate to have found and married the love of my life,” Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, said of Faur. “She brought joy to everything we did together. I will miss her dearly.”

Elsewhere in the statement, the families asked for privacy “in their time of grief.”

The former fighter pilot gushed about his wife in an interview with People in 2023, affectionately calling her the “Wizard of Oz package.”

TRUEdoes not haveInclination

Your supportFuelsOur Mission

Your supportFuelsOur Mission

We will not turn back

As more major networks align themselves with those in power, the space for fearless journalism is shrinking. By becoming a member, you support a newsroom that asks the tough questions, no matter who is in charge.

We remain committed to bringing you the unwavering, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.

Thank you again for your support along the way. We are truly grateful for readers like you! Your early support helped get us here and strengthened our newsroom, keeping us strong in uncertain times. As we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.

We remain committed to bringing you the unwavering, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.

Thank you again for your support along the way. We are truly grateful for readers like you! Your early support helped get us here and strengthened our newsroom, keeping us strong in uncertain times. As we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.

News Support

Are you already a member? Sign in to hide these messages.

“When I met Anca, I instantly recognized that there was a woman who has the entire Wizard of Oz package: brains, heart and courage,” he said at the time. “There’s something special about her and the way we connect so well.”

Meanwhile, Faur told People about their relationship: “We both felt deep in our hearts all these years that getting married was the right thing to do. That being said, we were having such a wonderful courtship that we didn’t feel the need to rush things.”

Aldrin was previously married to Joan Archer from 1954 to 1974, Beverly Van Zile from 1975 to 1978, and Lois Driggs Cannon from 1988 to 2012.