Astronaut Buzz Aldrin is being cared for by Dr. David Bowie

Buzz Aldrin speaks at WE Day Minnesota in 2016.

(Image credit: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

published 6 December 2016

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 86, recently fell ill after becoming the oldest person to reach the South Pole. But rest assured, Aldrin is in good hands — Dr. David Bowie is taking care of him.

Of course, it isn't the same David Bowie who wrote "Starman," "Life on Mars," and "Space Oddity"; the cosmos-loving rock star, who was born David Jones, died in January after a quiet battle with cancer. But a different David Bowie, of Christchurch, New Zealand, "is still here on Earth tending to the sick," Time reports.

Aldrin's manager shared the delightful coincidence on Twitter:

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Bowie and Aldrin were already fatefully tied, too: Bowie's song, "Space Oddity," was released less than two weeks before Neil Armstrong and Aldrin became the first two people to walk on the moon in July 1969.

Aldrin was evacuated from the South Pole over the weekend and has been advised to remain in quarantine until the fluid in his lungs clears.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.