Profile of Buzz Aldrin on Famous Like Me

Colonel Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., Ph.D (born January 20, 1930) is an American pilot and astronaut who became the second human to set foot on the Moon (after Neil Armstrong) during the Apollo 11 mission, the first manned lunar landing.

Biography

Early years

Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey. He graduated from Montclair High School and attended the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. He graduated third in his class in 1951 with a bachelor of science degree. Aldrin was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and served as a jet fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, where he flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft. After leaving Korea, Aldrin was an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, and later an aide to the dean of faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. After leaving this assignment, Aldrin flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg, Germany.

Military career

Aldrin left military service to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where he earned his doctorate of science in Astronautics. His graduate thesis was "Guidance for Manned Orbital Rendezvous." After leaving MIT, he returned to the Air Force and was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles, and later to Edwards Air Force Base at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service.

Time as an astronaut

Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts in October 1963. His serious and intellectual manner proved invaluable during the planning of the Gemini missions but he was not inline for a flight. The deaths of the prime crew for Gemini 9 meant that Aldrin was promoted to back-up crew for the mission. Gemini 9's main objective was to rendevous and dock with a target vehicle but when this failed Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendevous with a co-ordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission and the last chance to prove methods for EVA. He utilized revolutionary techniques during training for that mission, including neutrally-buoyant underwater training. Such techniques are still used today. Aldrin set a record for extra-vehicular activity and proved that astronauts could work outside the spacecraft.

Aldrin has had a much more public persona than Neil Armstrong, and it is said that originally it was he who would be first out onto the surface. Buzz is well known for having a mystical side, being a Freemason, and for having made statements about God -- including taking communion on the surface of the moon.

Retirement

After leaving active duty as an astronaut Aldrin returned to the Air Force in a managerial role but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiography Return to Earth provides an account of his struggles with depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration, including producing a unique computer strategy game called "Race into Space" (1992).

Aldrin also teamed up with science fiction author John Barnes to write Encounter With Tiber and The Return.

In 2002, President Bush appointed Aldrin to the Presidential Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry.

A small crater on the Moon near the Apollo 11 landing site is named in his honor.

He also has a TV star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood and Vine.

He voiced himself in "Deep Space Homer", an episode of The Simpsons in which he flies into space with Homer Simpson and fictional astronaut Race Banyon. He also appeared in an interview with Ali G in the British comedy series Ali G in da USA.

He currently serves on the National Space Society's Board of Governors, and has served as the organization's Chairman.

In 1988 Aldrin legally changed his first name to "Buzz".

Stalking by Bart Sibrel

In September, 2002, conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel's repeated demands (over several years) that astronaut Aldrin swear an oath on the Bible that he had walked on the Moon, or admit that it was all a hoax, came to a head. Aldrin had repeatedly refused to take this oath, and Sibrel's tactics with Aldrin and several other Apollo astronauts have been confrontational. Sibrel often gained access to the astronauts by lying, claiming to represent organizations that he does not, and assuming false identities. When he approached Aldrin in September 2002, he cornered Aldrin and a young female relative, stood in their way as they tried to leave the area and shouted directly in Aldrin's face, shoving a Bible into Aldrin's ribs several times, calling Aldrin a "a coward, a liar, and a thief". Aldrin punched Sibrel in the face, claiming that he felt forced to defend himself and his companion. Sibrel suffered no permanent injury. Although the Beverly Hills police investigated the incident, charges were dismissed. Admirers of Aldrin applauded the 72-year old former astronaut's actions. (See here for a video clip of the incident.)

Trivia

• Aldrin's 1989 biography Men From Earth was the inspiration for the band of the same name.
• Aldrin is a descendent of blacksmiths from Värmland, Sweden.

External link

• Official website
• Men From Earth official site

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