Buzz Aldrin (/ˈɔːldrɪn/; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. He was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and became the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong.
Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Aldrin graduated third in the class of 1951 from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned into the United States Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions and shot down two MiG-15 aircraft.
After earning a Doctor of Science degree in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Aldrin was selected as a member of NASA's Astronaut Group 3, making him the first astronaut with a doctoral degree. His doctoral thesis, Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous, earned him the nickname "Dr. Rendezvous" from fellow astronauts. His first space flight was in 1966 on Gemini 12, during which he spent over five hours on extravehicular activity. Three years later, Aldrin set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 on July 21, 1969 (UTC), nineteen minutes after Armstrong first touched the surface, while command module pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit. A Presbyterian elder, Aldrin became the first person to hold a religious ceremony on the Moon when he privately took communion.
Apollo 11 effectively proved U.S. victory in the Space Race by fulfilling a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" before the end of the decade.
After leaving NASA in 1971, Aldrin became Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He retired from the Air Force in 1972 after 21 years of service. His autobiographies Return to Earth (1973) and Magnificent Desolation (2009) recount his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years after leaving NASA. Aldrin continues to advocate for space exploration, particularly a human mission to Mars. He developed the Aldrin cycler, a special spacecraft trajectory that makes travel to Mars more efficient in terms of time and propellant. He has been accorded numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.
In the media[]
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | The Boy in the Plastic Bubble | Himself | TV movie |
| 1986 | Punky Brewster | Himself | episode "Accidents Happen", March 9, 1986 |
| 1989 | After Dark | Himself | Extended appearance on British discussion program, with among others Heinz Wolff, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Whitley Strieber |
| 1994 | The Simpsons | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Deep Space Homer". Aldrin accompanies Homer Simpson on a trip into space as part of NASA's plan to improve its public image |
| 1997 | Space Ghost Coast to Coast | Himself | Episodes: "Brilliant Number One" and "Brilliant Number Two" |
| 1999 | Disney's Recess | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Space Cadet" |
| 2003 | Da Ali G Show | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Numb3rs | Himself | Episode: "Killer Chat" |
| 2007 | In the Shadow of the Moon | Himself | Documentary |
| 2008 | Fly Me to the Moon | Himself | |
| 2010 | 30 Rock | Himself | Episode: "The Moms" |
| 2010 | Dancing with the Stars | Himself/contestant | 2nd eliminated in season 10 |
| 2011 | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Himself | Aldrin explains to Optimus Prime and the Autobots that Apollo 11's top secret mission was to investigate a Cybertronian ship on the far side of the Moon whose existence was concealed from the public. |
| 2011 | Futurama | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Cold Warriors" |
| 2012 | Space Brothers | Himself | |
| 2012 | The Big Bang Theory | Himself | Episode: "The Holographic Excitation" |
| 2012 | Mass Effect 3 | The Stargazer (voice) | Aldrin played a stargazer who appears in the video game's final scene |
| 2015 | Jorden runt på 6 steg | Himself | Successfully tested six degrees of separation |
| 2016 | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Himself | Was interviewed and took part in a skit |
| 2016 | Hell's Kitchen | Himself | Dining room guest and had his dinner cooked by the blue team due to their team challenge win |
| 2017 | Miles from Tomorrowland | Commander Copernicus (voice) | Guest stars in an episode |