--- title: Starman Buzz Aldrin Is Being Cared for by Dr. David Bowie description: Dr. David Bowie's latest patient is the former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was evacuated from the South Pole last week after falling ill canonical: https://time.com/4591564/doctor-david-bowie-buzz-aldrin/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-06T07:39:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:37.148Z og:title: 'Starman' Buzz Aldrin is Being Cared for by Dr. David Bowie og:description: Aldrin, 86, fell ill after becoming the oldest person to reach the South Pole og:url: https://time.com/4591564/doctor-david-bowie-buzz-aldrin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201bfcfd709bd66/6988b0d2196cf4db1e03e31c/gettyimages-496806350.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4351 og:image:height: 2447 og:image:alt: SWITZERLAND-SPACE-ASTRONAUTS-MARS-ALDRIN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Starman' Buzz Aldrin is Being Cared for by Dr. David Bowie twitter:description: Aldrin, 86, fell ill after becoming the oldest person to reach the South Pole twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201bfcfd709bd66/6988b0d2196cf4db1e03e31c/gettyimages-496806350.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now Here's a Space Oddity: Sick Starman Buzz Aldrin Is Being Cared for by Dr. David Bowie > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Dec 6, 2016 7:39 AM UTC  Former NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin shows the T-shirt he wears promoting Mars exploration on Nov. 12, 2015, in Geneva Former NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin shows the T-shirt he wears promoting Mars exploration on Nov. 12, 2015, in Geneva Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Dec 6, 2016 7:39 AM UTC The late art-rock hero David Bowie might be waiting in the sky, but his namesake — Dr. David Bowie of Christchurch, New Zealand — is still here on earth tending to the sick. And in an incredible coincidence, Dr. Bowie’s [latest patient](https://twitter.com/TheRealBuzz/status/805987432097345537/photo/1) is none other than real life “[Starman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw)” Buzz Aldrin, who was evacuated from the South Pole last week after falling ill, Reuters [reports](http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-people-buzz-aldrin-idUKKBN13V08T). The rock star Bowie had a famous affinity for space, appearing in such films as _The Man Who Fell to Earth_ and enjoying such hits as “Loving the Alien” and “Starman.” On Monday Christina Korp, the former astronaut’s manager, took to Twitter to remark on the serendipity. > [](https://twitter.com/Buzzs%5Fxtina/status/805733612368736257) In a separate tweet, Korp noted that the U.S. National Science Foundation had confirmed that Aldrin, 86, now holds the record as the oldest person to reach the South Pole. His doctors have advised him to stay in hospital until his lungs clear of fluid. Neil Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon after the Apollo 11 touched down on July 20, 1969. Less than a fortnight before, singer and actor David Bowie had released the single “Space Oddity.” It charted the journey of fictional astronaut, Major Tom, who slipped the earth’s shackles to journey among the stars. Bowie died after an 18-month battle with cancer [this January](http://time.com/4174815/david-bowie-death-cancer/). He had just turned 69. \[[_Reuters_](http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-people-buzz-aldrin-idUKKBN13V08T)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4591564/doctor-david-bowie-buzz-aldrin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4591564/doctor-david-bowie-buzz-aldrin/"},"headline":"Now Here's a Space Oddity: Sick Starman Buzz Aldrin Is Being Cared for by Dr. David Bowie","datePublished":"2016-12-06T07:39:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:37.148Z","description":"Aldrin, 86, fell ill after becoming the oldest person to reach the South Pole","url":"https://time.com/4591564/doctor-david-bowie-buzz-aldrin/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre","New Zealand","David Bowie"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201bfcfd709bd66/6988b0d2196cf4db1e03e31c/gettyimages-496806350.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201bfcfd709bd66/6988b0d2196cf4db1e03e31c/gettyimages-496806350.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWITZERLAND-SPACE-ASTRONAUTS-MARS-ALDRIN","caption":"SWITZERLAND-SPACE-ASTRONAUTS-MARS-ALDRIN","creditText":"Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4591564/doctor-david-bowie-buzz-aldrin/","name":"Now Here's a Space Oddity: Sick Starman Buzz Aldrin Is Being Cared for by Dr. David Bowie"}}]}] ```