By Michael Thompson, Contributing writer

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins share more than a partnership in the historic Apollo 11 moon mission, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in July. All three were born in 1930, and all three remain in reported good health.

Armstrong and Aldrin became the first two men to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969, while Collins manned the lunar orbiting module during that mission. The trio returned safely to Earth, and to a hero's welcome, on July 24, 1969. Each retired from NASA within three years of the moon landing.

The astronauts have not remained particularly close. Armstrong is in retirement in rural Ohio near Cincinnati, Aldrin in California near Los Angeles, and Collins in the Florida Everglades.

Armstrong is the best known for his status as the first human on the moon and his declaration, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." However, he has also remained the most private.

Here's what the astronauts have been up to since their historic mission.

Neil Armstrong

One concern Armstrong had after the Apollo 11 mission was that he would be viewed as taking advantage of his celebrity for personal gain. He has fought this perception ever since. Armstrong did not follow his fellow Ohioan John Glenn's path into national politics. He also rejected corporate spokesman offers for a full decade until, in 1979, he agreed to serve as a TV representative for Chrysler automotive ads.

Armstrong's battle against exploitation of his name continued. He sued Hallmark in 1994 after the corporation used his name and his "one small step" moon landing quote for a Christmas ornament. Most recently, in 2005, he threatened legal action when his barber sold lock of his hair to collectors. The case was settled out of court.

When the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986, Armstrong agreed to serve on a congressional commission that investigated the disaster. As a result of that commission's findings, NASA reformed its management structure and safety policies.

More than a dozen schools are named in Armstrong's honor. In 2007, his alma mater, Purdue University, dedicated the $53.2 million Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering. His authorized biography, "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," was published in 2005 by author James R. Hansen.

Buzz Aldrin

His name was Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. when he landed on the moon, but in 1988 at the age of 58, he officially shortened it to Buzz Aldrin Jr.

In 1973, Aldrin took the nation by surprise when he published an autobiography, "Return to Earth," which detailed his struggles with alcoholism and clinical depression after the moon mission was completed. A made-for-TV movie of the same name followed in 1976. Aldrin stated that he had wanted to be the first astronaut to step foot on the moon.

Aldrin got involved in television and movies, appearing on shows that ranged from "Punky Brewster" to "The Simpsons." For these efforts and others, Aldrin has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2002, Aldrin punched a proponent of the moon-landing-as-hoax conspiracy theory after the man confronted him outside of a hotel, calling him names and accusing him of lying about having been to the moon.

Michael Collins

After his NASA retirement, Collins tackled the challenge of attending Harvard Business School; became assistant secretary of state for public affairs; then director of the National Air and Space Museum; and finally became undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Collins also wrote four books, starting with his 1974 memoir "Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey." He adapted this for a children's book 20 years later called "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story." Among other post-moon accomplishments, Collins has painted watercolors of his Everglades home environment and of spacecraft. Meanwhile, his daughter Kate Collins starred in the long-running soap opera "All My Children" in the 1980s and early 1990s.