BUZZ ALDRIN

Colonel 'Buzz Aldrin', Sc.D (born January 20, 1930 as 'Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.') is an American pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module Pilot on ''Apollo 11'', the first lunar landing. He became the second person to have set foot on the Moon (after Mission Commander Neil Armstrong).

Contents

Biography

Early life

Military career

Time as an astronaut

Retirement

Confrontation with Bart Sibrel

Aldrin in the movies

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Aldrin was born into a military family in Glen Ridge, New Jersey,^[1] where he became a Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts of America.^[2] He attended Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The nickname "Buzz" originated in childhood: his sister mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer" as a toddler, and this was shortened to Buzz. He made it his legal first name in 1988.^{[3] [4]}

Military career

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 in the 22nd Fighter Squadron.
Aldrin earned his doctorate of science in Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His graduate thesis was ''Line-of-sight guidance techniques 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. After the deaths of the ''Gemini 9's prime crew, Aldrin was promoted to back-up crew for the mission. Gemini 9A's main objective was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle but when this failed Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous 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. It was because of this that Deke Slayton credited Aldrin with 'saving the space program'.
In 2005, while being interviewed for a documentary entitled "First on the Moon: The Untold Story", Aldrin relayed to an interviewer that he and the crew of the Apollo 11 witnessed an unidentified flying object (UFO). He claimed that, out of fear of being forced to turn back should someone on the ground fear the possible presence of aliens, they informed Mission Control via a request for the current position of the S-IVB. David Morrison, a NAI Senior Scientist, claims to have had a conversation with Aldrin in which he explained that the documentary cut out the interview portions in which Aldrin told interviewers that the Apollo 11 crew ultimately concluded that they were probably seeing a detached panel from the spacecraft.^[5][6][7][8] When Aldrin appeared on ''The Howard Stern Show'' on August 15, 2007, Howard Stern asked him about the supposed UFO sighting. Aldrin confirmed that there was no such sighting of anything deemed extraterrestrial, and said they were and are "99.9 percent" sure that the object was the detached panel. He also revealed to Stern that he underwent plastic surgery.^[9]

Aldrin has had a much more public persona than Neil Armstrong, and much has been said about his desire at the time to be the first astronaut out of the Lunar Module, and therefore the first to walk on the moon. The matter was dramatized in the miniseries ''From the Earth to the Moon'', based on Andrew Chaikin's book ''A Man On The Moon''.
Aldrin is a Presbyterian, and is known for having made statements about God — including receiving Communion on the surface of the moon. After landing on the moon, Aldrin radioed earth with these words: "I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way." Aldrin kept his Communion a secret because of the lawsuit regarding the reading of ''Genesis'' on Apollo 8.^[10] Aldrin, a church elder, used a pastor's home Communion kit given to him by Dean Woodruff and recited words used by his pastor at Webster Presbyterian Church. He celebrated Communion alone, without his colleague Armstrong participating.^[11][12]

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. His life improved considerably with his marriage to Lois Aldrin. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration, including producing a unique computer strategy game called "Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space" (1992). He played the role of Reverend Woodruff in the 1996 TV movie ''Apollo 11''. He appears occasionally on British TV, and is quite a popular figure there.

Aldrin also teamed up with science fiction author John Barnes to write ''Encounter With Tiber'' and ''The Return''.
In 2001, President Bush appointed Aldrin to the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry.^[13][14]
A small crater on the Moon near the ''Apollo 11'' landing site is named in his honor.
In 2003, he received The Humanitarian Award from Variety, the Children's Charity. Variety is a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of disabled and disadvantaged children worldwide. According to the organization, the award "is given to an individual who has shown unusual understanding, empathy, and devotion to mankind." ^[15]
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'', during which Ali G referred to him as Buzz Lightyear and asked him if he thought man would ever walk on the sun.
In an episode of ''NUMB3RS'' entitled "Killer Chat", Buzz is seen at the end escorting Larry from the FBI headquarters on his way to his launch to the International Space Station.
He currently serves on the National Space Society's [2] Board of Governors, and has served as the organization's Chairman. He is currently a member of The Planetary Society, with Aldrin's pre-recorded voice appearing on nearly every episode of the Society's ''Planetary Radio''.
In 2005, through small publisher Flatsigned Press, Aldrin released two leather bound signed limited editions, ''Men From Earth'' and ''Encounter With Tiber''.
He plays himself in the 3-D animated film ''Fly Me to the Moon'', due to be released in theaters in 2007.

Confrontation with Bart Sibrel

On September 9 2002, filmmaker Bart Sibrel, a proponent that the six Apollo lunar missions were elaborate hoaxes, confronted Aldrin outside a Beverly Hills, California hotel, demanding that Aldrin either swear an oath on the Bible that he had walked on the Moon or admit that it was all a hoax. After Aldrin and an unnamed female relative who was accompanying him tried to leave, Sibrel put the Bible in front of him and called Aldrin "a coward, a liar, and a thief". Aldrin punched Sibrel in the face. ^[16] Beverly Hills police and the city's prosecutor declined to file charges. Sibrel suffered no permanent injuries.

Aldrin in the movies

Cliff Robertson played Aldrin in the 1976 TV-movie ''Return to Earth'' based on Aldrin's own memoir.
Aldrin was portrayed by Larry Williams in the 1995 film ''Apollo 13''. In the 1996 TV movie ''Apollo 11'' he was played by Xander Berkeley, who had previously played the small role of Henry Hurt in ''Apollo 13''. In the 1998 miniseries ''From the Earth to the Moon'' Aldrin was played by Bryan Cranston. On December 26, 2006, Channel 4 Television in the UK transmitted a 50 minute opera by British Composer Jonathan Dove called ''Man on the Moon'', especially made for television. It tells the story of Aldrin's trip to the moon interleaved with the effects the experience had on him and his marriage. Aldrin was played by Nathan Gunn, and Joan Aldrin by Patricia Racette.

References

1. First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, , James R., Hansen, Simon & Schuster, , "Buzz Aldrin's birthplace has frequently been given to be Montclair, New Jersey. In fact, he was born on the Glen Ridge wing of a hospital whose central body rested in Montclair. His birth certificate lists Glen Ridge as his birthplace."
2. Astronauts and the BSA
3. http://www.buzzaldrin.com/about/faq/
4. http://encarta.msn.com/media_461577285/Buzz_Aldrin_Quick_Facts.html
5. NASA Ask an Astrobiologist
6. Daily Record Article
7. Site containing a transcript of the UFO segment of the Untold Story documentary
8. A link to The Science Channel scheduling info for cited documentary containing Aldrin's UFO comments
9. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Calls In. 08/15/07. 7:30am
10. Chaikin, Andrew. ''A Man On The Moon''.
11. ("First on the Moon — A Voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr", written with Gene Farmer and Dora Jane Hamblin, epilogue by Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Joseph Ltd, London (1970), page 251).
12. Sundance 2007: Buzz Aldrin Speaks Jennifer Hillner
13. Personnel Announcements - August 22, 2001 White House Press Release naming the Presidential Appointees for the commission.
14. [1] - This sources states he was appointed in 2002, although according to the August 22, 2001 Press Release, it was 2001
15. Variety International Humanitarian Awards
16. Buzz Aldrin punches guy in the face

External links

★ Official website

★ Buzz Aldrin's Official NASA Biography

★ Buzz Aldrin Honored as an Ambassador of Exploration

★ Spacefacts biography of Buzz Aldrin

★ Buzz Aldrin's Roadmap to Mars (Popular Mechanics, December 2005)

★ Video excerpt from "Apollo 11: The Untold Story"

★ "Satellite of solitude" by Buzz Aldrin: an article in which Aldrin describes what it was like to walk on the Moon, ''Cosmos'' science magazine

★ Buzz Aldrin decribes walking on the Moon for MSN.