Former NASA astronaut Col. Buzz Aldrin will touch down at Ohio State today.

Aldrin’s appearance is part of the OSU Medical Center Stress Trauma And Resilience Program speaking series. Co-hosted by President E. Gordon Gee and Medical Center CEO Steven Gabbe, the event is a fundraising effort for the program.

The program’s mission statement is: “To improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from psychological trauma through innovations in research, education and patient care,” according to the website. “The Program is an initiative of OSU Medical Center Department of Psychiatry that addresses the tremendous need in our community for comprehensive and compassionate treatment, education and research on behalf of victims of traumatic loss including war, medical illness, injury, violent crime and abuse.”

Aldrin will be a special guest at “Faces of Resilience,” part of the fundraising effort for the program.

Following his celebrated moon mission and his retirement from NASA, Aldrin felt a deep sense of loss and lack of direction. His own psychological trauma involved depression and alcohol, issues in his life that nearly destroyed him. He is now a courageous advocate for others with similar problems.

During the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969, Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon. He is also a veteran of the Gemini 12 mission in November 1966. On that mission, with Jim Lovell, Aldrin left the two-man capsule for his first spacewalk. The four-day mission successfully concluded the Gemini program with a splashdown south of Bermuda.

An advocate for continued space exploration, Aldrin speaks with authority about the need to reach for the stars. His vision includes such innovations as the Aldrin Mars Cycler for efficient transit between Earth and the Red Planet; Aquila, a flexible and reusable launch and recovery system; multi-crew modules for launching several capsules at once; and Starbooster, a family of ‘flyback’ rocket boosters.

Aldrin is also an accomplished author. His newly released book, “Magnificent Desolation,” chronicles his critical participation in the Apollo 11 moon-landing mission. The book also documents the author’s courageous recovery from addiction and mental illness.

Buzz Aldrin earned his doctorate degree in astronautics from MIT, where his dissertation was on manned orbital rendezvous. He is also a distinguished Air Force veteran, with numerous military and civilian awards and decorations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

On his website, buzzaldrin.com, Aldrin said, “Let me say … having walked on the moon, that I am myself still awed by that miracle. That awe, in me and in each of us … must be the engine of future achievement, not a slow dimming light from a time once bright.”

The event takes place from noon to 1 p.m. today in the Ohio Union’s Archie Griffin Grand Ballroom.