Buzz Aldrin Shares What Happened To Him After He Landed On The Moon

Neil Armstrong may have received most of the glory during the pioneering Apollo 11 mission. His “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” line is one of the most notable of the 20th century after all. But crewmate Buzz Aldrin was just as heroic on that historic voyage. And half a century later the astronaut opened up about how it feels to be forever known as the second man on the moon.

Blast off

As anyone old enough to have witnessed the monumental event will be able to remember, Aldrin, Armstrong and Mike Collins were launched into space in July 1969. The trio departed Earth from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in a Saturn V rocket. As Aldrin recalled at a 50th anniversary gala, the initial journey was also a surprisingly smooth one. 

Buzz Aldrin remembers

Aldrin told the captivated audience at Los Angeles’ Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, “We did not know the instant of leaving the ground. We only knew it from the instruments and voice communications which confirmed liftoff. We sort of looked at each other and thought, ‘We must be on our way.’”

Their assignments

Collins was given the task of manning Columbia – the command module – at the vital moment. His fellow two astronauts, on the other hand, reached their lunar destination in the four-legged module that was dubbed Eagle. Though unlike their launch, Aldrin and Armstrong’s descent to the moon was anything but smooth. 

The landing could have been a disaster

In fact, if it hadn’t been for the quick-thinking of pilot Armstrong, the pair’s module would have crashed into an array of lunar boulders. Thankfully, the computer guidance system directing them there was overrode by the astronaut. Apparently, Aldrin was responsible for communicating Eagle’s navigation data at the time to mission control.