Buzz Aldrin at the Night of 100 Stars Talks About US Veterans

Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 Astronaut and second man to step on the Moon gives a Shout Out to US Veterans
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As a young kid I was obsessed with the space missions in the 60’s. I remember the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Missions and all my book reports and model building and reading were around the space program.

I also got a chance in the Navy to work at the NASA Facility in Michoud, LA and was stationed in the Saturn V test cell where there was still one main booster stage stored.

I used to go eat lunch in the test cell just to marvel at the huge rocket and I even played my guitar in one of the bell shaped booster rockets… Yes it was big enough to stand in… Very nice acoustics…

Me meeting Buzz Aldrin in Aspen

The picture above is the rocket I used to visit being transferred to the front of the facility so if you visit you can appreciate this marvel of the space program.

All this said, I can tell you I really appreciate meeting and having the opportunity to speak with Buzz.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Buzz on several occasions. He has even signed a book for me. So thank you Buzz, it was very nice of Buzz of you to stop to give a shout out to US Veterans. – JW

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Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey on January 20, 1930.  His mother, Marion Moon, was the daughter of an Army Chaplain.  His father, Edwin Eugene Aldrin, was a Colonel in the Air Force, a Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and an aviation pioneer.

Buzz was educated at the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating third in his class with a B.S. 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 went on to earn 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 also pioneered underwater training techniques, as a substitute for zero gravity flights, to simulate spacewalking.

In 1966, on the Gemini 12 orbital mission, Buzz performed the world’s first successful spacewalk, overcoming prior difficulties experienced in all American and Russian extra-vehicular activity (EVA), and set a new EVA record of 5 ½ hours.

Then, 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. They spent 21 hours on the lunar surface and returned with 46 pounds of moon rocks.  The largest worldwide television audience – an estimated 600 million people, witnessed this unprecedented heroic endeavor.

Since retiring from NASA and the Air Force, Col. Aldrin has remained at the forefront of efforts to ensure America’s continued leadership in human space exploration.  He devised a master plan for missions to Mars – the “Aldrin Mars Cycler” – a spacecraft transportation system with perpetual cycling orbits between Earth and Mars.  Dr. Aldrin has received three US patents for his rocket systems and schematics.

Buzz Aldrin announces the creation of the AXE Apollo Space Academy. Join now at AXEApollo.com for your chance to go to space.

Buzz Aldrin’s Mission to Mars

“Colonising space is essential for the long term survival of the human race, and Buzz Aldrin’s book shows us how.” —Stephen Hawking 

Legendary “space statesman” Buzz Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. As a pioneering astronaut who first set foot on the moon during mankind’s first landing of Apollo 11–and as an aerospace engineer who designed an orbital rendezvous technique critical to future planetary landings–Aldrin has a vision, and in this book he plots out the path he proposes, taking humans to Mars by 2035.

Also Check Out Buzz Aldrin at:

Buzz Aldrin’s Website

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Thanks to Night of 100 Stars, Norby Walters and the great staff for a wonderful night full of stars… Hollywood’s #1 Awards Night Gala.

On one night each year, Hollywood’s most prestigious movie industry awards show is televised to the world. It’s a night when constellations of stars come out of their Brentwood, Beverly Hills and Bel Aire estates to support their peers and participate in the spectacle.

Anyone who is someone is out to see and be seen, a stellar mix of TV and movie actors, moguls and media, producers, paparazzi and assorted glitterati. It’s also
a night where, under the spotlights of the exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel, hundreds of Hollywood’s brightest converge in limousines, wave at the cameras, walk the red carpet, and enter the most exclusive, high-profile awards night gala event of the year – Night of 100 Stars — hosted by legendary agent Norby Walters.