Dr. Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. His mother, Marion Moon, was the daughter of an Army Chaplain and his father Edwin Eugene Aldrin was an aviation pioneer. Buzz graduated one year early from Montclair High School and he attended the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating third in his class with a BS in mechanical engineering. He then joined the Air Force where he flew F86 Sabre Jets in 66 combat missions in Korea, shot down two MIG-15′s, and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. After a tour of duty in Germany flying F100′s, he earned his Doctorate of Science in Astronautics at MIT and wrote his thesis on Manned Orbital Rendezvous.

Selected by NASA in 1963 into the third group of astronauts, Aldrin was the first with a doctorate and became known as “Dr. Rendezvous.” The docking and rendezvous techniques he devised for spacecraft in Earth and lunar orbit became critical to the success of the Gemini and Apollo programs, and are still used today. He pioneered underwater training techniques to simulate spacewalking. In 1966 on the Gemini 12 orbital mission, Buzz performed the world’s first successful spacewalk – extra-vehicular activity (EVA), and set a new EVA record of 5 1⁄2 hours. During that mission he also took the first ‘selfie’ in space.

On July 20, 1969, Buzz and Neil Armstrong made their historic Apollo 11 moonwalk, becoming the first two humans to set foot on another world. An estimated 600 million people – at that time, the world’s largest television audience in history – witnessed this unprecedented heroic endeavor.

Upon returning from the moon, Buzz was decorated with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and numerous awards all over the world. Named after Buzz are Asteroid “6470 Aldrin” and the “Aldrin Crater” on the moon. In 2011 along with his Apollo 11 crew mates Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, he received the Congressional Gold Medal.

Buzz is the author of 9 books, most recently his children’s book, Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet and his newest NY Times and Washington Post Bestseller, “No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons from a Man Who Walked on the Moon”. Both published by National Geographic.

In October of 2014 he revamped his ShareSpace Foundation to be focused on STEAM Education – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math to ignite the spark and fuel excitement for space in kids –Specifically for K-8. In August of 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.

Since retiring from NASA and the U.S. Air Force, Col. Aldrin calls himself a Global Statesman for Space and has remained a tireless advocate for human space exploration. 

Broadcast 2007 (Special Edition)

Guest: Dr. Buzz Aldrin. Topics: Buzz talks about his Unified Space Vision, Mars settlement and his new book, "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration." Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use.

Broadcast 937 (Special Edition)

Guests: Steve Harrington, Flometrics, Inc., Dr. Pete Wordin, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, David King, NASA Ames Amateur Radio Club. This program consists of a recorded set of interviews starting first with Steve Harrington at the Responsive Space Conference #6. Following the Harrington interview, you will hear the set of recorded interviews from this year's Yuri's Night, April 12, 2008 at NASA Ames. During the Yuri's Night interviews, you will hear my mention of the less than stellar treatment of the media by new Yuri's Night media/press rules and systems.

Broadcast 775 (Special Edition)

Dr. Buzz Aldrin was a guest for this late Friday afternoon Space Show program. Buzz started off giving us an update of where we are today versus yesterday/yesteryear re the VSE, rockets, space station, and much more. We talked about his ShareSpace plan for advocate organizations and members to win space trips and related activities. Listen to his plan and let us know what you think of it. He received a few questions regarding possible problems with Aries I in the launch hardware NASA is developing to go to the Moon.

Broadcast 559 (Special Edition)

Dr. Buzz Aldrin was the very special guest for this Space Show program. Buzz outlined a three point engagement plan for moving forward with space development, education, and engaging the public in space, specifically the VSE. This program started with his description of his ShareSpace Foundation, its educational work and objectives, followed by explaining the importance of coming up with the right nomenclature to properly describe those going to space as adventurers or explorers, not just tourists.

Sponsor Banner

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • helix-space the space show sponsor

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • space settlement progress

  • The Space Foundation Conference

Subscribe to RSS - Dr. Buzz Aldrin