Second Man on The Moon
Buzz Aldrin was born on January 20, 1930, in Montclair, New Jersey. His father, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, encouraged his interest in flight. Aldrin became a fighter pilot and flew in the Korean War. In 1963, he was selected by NASA for the next Gemini mission. In 1969, Aldrin, along with Neil Armstrong, made history when they walked on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin later worked to develop space-faring technology and became an author, writing several sci-fi novels, children’s books, and memoirs including Return to Earth (1973), Magnificent Desolation (2009) and No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon (2016).
Early Life
Famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin was born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. on January 20, 1930 in Montclair, New Jersey. He earned his nickname, “Buzz,” as a child when his little sister mispronounced the word “brother” as “buzzer. His family shortened the nickname to “Buzz.” Aldrin would make it his legal first name in 1988.
He took well to the discipline and strict regimens
His mother, Marion Moon, was the daughter of an Army chaplain. His father, Edwin Eugene Aldrin, was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. In 1947, Buzz graduated from Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey, and headed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He took well to the discipline and strict regimens, and was the first in his class his freshman year. He graduated third in his class in 1951 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering.
Space Flight
His specialized study of rendezvous helped to earn him entry into the space program shortly after graduation. In 1963, Aldrin was part of a third group of men selected by NASA to attempt to pioneer space flight. He was the first astronaut with a doctorate and because of his expertise he earned the nickname “Dr. Rendezvous.” Aldrin was put in charge of creating docking and rendezvous techniques for spacecraft. He also pioneered underwater training techniques to simulate spacewalking.
In 1966, Aldrin and astronaut Jim Lovell were assigned to the Gemini 12 crew. During their November 11 to November 15, 1966, space flight, Aldrin made a five-hour spacewalk—the longest and most successful spacewalk ever completed at that time. He also used his rendezvous abilities to manually recalculate all the docking maneuvers on the flight, after the on-board radar failed. He also took a photograph of himself, which would later be called the first “selfie” in space, on that mission.
After Gemini 12, Aldrin was assigned to the back-up crew of Apollo 8 along with Neil Armstrong and Harrison “Jack” Schmitt. For the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, Aldrin served as the lunar module pilot. On July 20, 1969, he made history as the second man to walk on the moon, following mission commander Armstrong, who took the first step on the lunar surface. They spent a total of 21 hours during the moonwalk, and returned with 46 pounds of moon rocks. The walk, which was televised, drew an estimated 600 million people to watch, becoming the world’s largest television audience in history.
Upon their safe return to Earth, Aldrin was decorated with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, followed by a 45-day international goodwill tour. Other honors include having Asteroid “6470 Aldrin” and the “Aldrin Crater” on the moon named after him. Aldrin and his Apollo 11 crew mates Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins also received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011, and the Apollo 11 crew were honored with four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California.
Later Career
In March 1972, after 21 years of service, Aldrin retired from active duty and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role. He later revealed in his 1973 autobiography, Return to Earth, that he battled depression and alcoholism following his years with NASA. After struggling with divorce and maintaining sobriety, Aldrin turned to studying advancements in space technology. He devised a spacecraft system for missions to Mars known as the “Aldrin Mars Cycler,” and has received three U.S. patents for his schematics of a modular space station, Starbooster reusable rockets, and multi-crew modules. He also founded ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to advancing space education, exploration and affordable space flight experiences. In 2014, he revamped the nonprofit to focus on STEAM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) to inspire children from kindergarten through 8th grade to learn about space. In August 2015, he launched the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at Florida Tech “to promote and develop his vision of a permanent human settlement on the planet Mars,” according to his official website.
In his later career, Aldrin also became a prolific author. In addition to his first autobiography Return to Earth, he wrote Magnificent Desolation, a memoir that hit bookshelves in 2009—just in time for the 40th anniversary of his historic moon landing. He has also written several children’s books, including Reaching for the Moon (2005), Look to the Stars (2009) and Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet (2015); science-fiction novels including The Return (2000) and Encounter with Tiber (2004), co-authored with John Barnes; and Men from Earth (1989), a historical account of the lunar landing. He released the memoir No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon in 2016.
Aldrin also continued to give lectures and make television appearances, including competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2010, where he showed the world that a senior astronaut still had some impressive moves. He also made guest appearances on shows including The Simpsons, 30 Rock, and The Big Bang Theory, and had a cameo in the movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). He collaborated with hip-hop artists Snoop Dogg and Talib Kweli to create the song “Rocket Experience” to promote space exploration to young people. Proceeds from the sale of the song and video, which features music producer Quincy Jones and rapper Soulja Boy, benefit ShareSpace.
