Buzz Aldrin
By: Morgan F.
Early Life
Buzz Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey on January 20, 1930. His name given to him at birth was Edwin Eugene Aldrin but he changed it to Buzz because when his sister was young she would call him "Buzzer" because she couldn't say the word brother correctly. He shortened it to Buzz and legally changed his name to it in 1988. In 1951, at 21 years old Buzz Aldrin graduated from the U.S. military academy. He got his bachelors degree in Science.
Buzz Aldrin in 1969
This was Buzz Aldrin in 1969 which is the same year that he went onto the moon.
Buzz Aldrin on Earth's Moon
This is a picture taken of Buzz Aldrin while he was on the Moon.
Buzz Aldrin in 2014
This is Buzz Aldrin earlier this year. He is still alive and is now 84 years old.
Military, Training, and Space Missions
In 1951 Buzz Aldrin joined the Air Force. Aldrin graduated at the top of his class from the U.S. Military Academy in 1951 with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. During his military career Aldrin flew 66 combat missions in Korea. In 1966 Aldrin was a co-pilot on the Apollo 8 mission. Aldrin walked in space for 5 hours which was the longest space walk at that point in History. Then, in 1969 Buzz Aldrin along with Neil Armstrong and Harrison Schmitt went on the historic Apollo 11 mission. On July 20, 1969 he became the second man to walk on the moon. They spent 21 hours on the moon and got 46 pounds of moon rocks for studying.
First Person: Buzz Aldrin Discusses Moon Landing
Later Life
In March 1972 Aldrin retired from the Active Duty Air Force and switched to a managerial role. In his autobiography written in 1973 he confessed that after his career with NASA he was struggling with depression and alcoholism. He became sober and instead of drinking he decided to study advancements in space technology. Even though he is much older now he is still busy doing lectures and making appearances very often. In 2010 he was actually on dancing with the stars.
Bibliography
"Astronaut Bio: Buzz Aldrin." Astronaut Bio: Buzz Aldrin. Biography.com, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/aldrin-b.html>.
Buzz Aldrin. Digital image. Blogspot. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 14. <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JK34sNMLgLM/Ut0lJKpUwbI/AAAAAAAAFCk/OlNtZfi_kMQ/s1600/Buzz_Aldrin.jpg>.
Digital image. Davidreneke.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.davidreneke.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Buzzer.jpg>.
Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://blogs.nature.com/soapboxscience/files/2014/02/Buzz-Aldrin-BW-hires.jpg>.
Morring, Jr., Frank. "Aldrin, Buzz." World Book Student. World Book, 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.