Today in Technology History
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January 20
The second man to step on the Moon turns 73 years old today.
Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. was born on January 20, 1930. His father was a notable aviator who served in both world wars and befriended Orville Wright, Charles Lindbergh and Robert Goddard. The young Aldrin was given the nickname "Buzz" by his sister, and it stayed with him for the rest of his life.
Aldrin graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1951 and became an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He flew 66 fighter missions during the Korean War, destroying two MiGs and damaging another. After holding a few Air Force positions, Aldrin enrolled in an engineering program at MIT. He has been quoted as saying that his greatest contribution to the U.S. space effort was the thesis he wrote at MIT, on the piloting and rendezvous of spacecraft in orbit.
In 1963, the same year he received a doctorate, NASA picked Aldrin to be an astronaut -- making him the first astronaut with a doctorate and the first who wasn't a test pilot. He pioneered the use of underwater training to simulate the weightlessness of space, and in 1966 he went to space for the first time on the final Gemini mission, Gemini 12. Highlights of that four-day mission included practice docking in space and more than five hours of extravehicular activity by Aldrin.
Of course, Buzz Aldrin is most famous for his role in the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It was his voice that announced that "The Eagle has landed," and he followed Neil Armstrong out of the hatch to become the second human to walk on the lunar surface.
In the years after his historic Moon landing, Aldrin battled depression and alcoholism. He resigned from NASA in 1971, and he has since written several books and founded a company. Dr. Aldrin remains involved in the space community, as an advocate for space tourism.
Related links:
Click here to visit Buzz Aldrin's homepage.
Click here for the official NASA biography of Aldrin.
Click here and here to learn more about the Gemini 12 mission.
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