Gala opens the countdown to the 50th anniversary of the 1st landing on the moon

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The former NASA astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, was remarkably absent at a 50th anniversary gala for the first moon landing, though his non-profit foundation

Aldrin said that he did not attend the Saturday Apollo Celebration Gala because of objections to the current goals of the base and the ongoing legal issues badociated with the base.

The former astronaut is locked in a legal battle with family members who say he is suffering from mental decline. The black tie event, held under a Saturn V rocket at the Kennedy Space Center, featured a group discussion by astronauts, a reward ceremony, and an auction of space memorabilia.

Hundreds of people attended the sold-out event, including British physicist Brian Cox, who presented Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson with the Innovation Award of the ShareSpace Foundation

Branson, whose the company is developing a new generation of commercial spacecraft, said in a video that the Apollo missions have influenced his generation. "The space is still hard, very hard, it really matters," said Branson. "There would be no Virgin Galactic, no Virgin Orbit and no spacecraft company without the Apollo astronauts and the thousands of talented people who made their mission possible."

Dr. Carolyn Williams of the non-profit organization De One Hand at AnOTHER was awarded the Foundation's Education Award, and former director of the Johnson Space Center, Gerry Griffin, director of flights for all Apollo missions in crew, received the Pioneer Award. very humiliating, he came out of nowhere, "said Griffin." It's so good to know that we pbaded the torch that will allow the next generation to take us to the next step. "

Next step, says Griffin, is a return of the Americans to the Moon and, finally, Mars – something that former Apollo astronauts, Walt Cunningham, Harrison Schmitt, Rusty Schweickart and Tom Stafford have discussed during the summer. a conversation with Cox

"We are sort of going through a second door here. "We did not go to the end – but it's open," said Schweickart, who flew as a lunar module pilot on Apollo 9, to the Associated Press. "The space will be much cheaper, and this will not only open up people the opportunity to fly, but also because of the reduced cost, real opportunities for innovators to generate new ideas and make new ideas." things that have never been "

The Aldrin ShareSpace Foundation is one of the sponsors of the annual gala that raises funds for scholarships in science, technology , engineering, arts and mathematics – or STEAM – and Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Renowned Brazilian pop artist Romero Britto donated his "Buzz Aldrin Space Series" for the auction, which also included a behind-the-scenes tour of Virgin Galactic California and autographed space memorabilia . Tickets for the event ranged from $ 750 to $ 2,500 per person

The planned absence of the former astronaut comes just a month after he sued two of his children Adults and a former corporate director, accusing them of misusing his credit cards. account and slander him by saying that he has dementia. A few weeks before the trial, Andrew and Jan Aldrin filed a petition demanding that their 88-year-old father suffer from loss of memory, delusion, paranoia and confusion.

Andrew and Jan Aldrin, as well as Christina Korp, on the board of directors of the foundation and attended the gala. The eldest son of Aldrin, James, is not involved in the legal fight.

Andrew Aldrin acknowledged the absence of his father during the gala.

"We're sorry dad can not be here, I know some are disappointed," said Aldrin. "In the end, what we are doing is creating the first generation of Martians."

Buzz Aldrin said in a statement that he did not attend the gala "because of the current course of events related to my space initiatives, also legal issues related to the ShareSpace Foundation." [19659019"IcreatedShareSpaceFoundationin1998forthepromotionofindividualspacetravelers"Aldrinsaid"TheFoundationisinmyopinionnowusedtopromoteverydifferentgoals"

Buzz Aldrin, with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, was part of the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first two humans on the moon July 20, 1969 ..