On July 21, 1969, Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon’s surface and history was made. This famous astronaut has been in the spotlight since then, but he hasn’t given many interviews about his life as an astronaut and more about what went on behind the scenes of the lunar landing. In this one-on-one interview, you’ll learn from Aldrin himself all about what it was like to be part of Apollo 11 and why he believes going to the moon was so important.
The Story of The Apollo 11 Launch
In July of 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral. It was NASA’s sixth attempt to get a man-made object into orbit, and its first attempt to land men on another celestial body. The destination was 10 miles wide and 238,857 miles away—the moon. The mission took eight days from launch to touchdown. On July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on another planet. Two hours later, Buzz Aldrin joined him. As they looked back at Earth through their visors, they realized they were standing in history. We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered Earth, said Armstrong as he took his first steps outside his lunar module onto lunar soil.
Part One – The Launch
On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A atop a giant Saturn V rocket. It was a giant moment in human history—one that resulted in astronaut Neil Armstrong taking one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. Buzz Aldrin was right beside him during their historic descent to Earth’s moon. In honor of the 45th anniversary of Apollo 11’s launch, here are some interesting tidbits about what it was like to be an astronaut on that mission. Part Two – The Descent: As you probably know by now, Armstrong and Aldrin were accompanied by Michael Collins aboard Apollo 11; he piloted them into orbit around our planet and then out toward our moon while his crewmates took care of business down below. But how did they do it?
Part Two – The Descent
Armstrong and Aldrin unbuckled their seatbelts, pulled themselves up out of their seats, opened a hatch, and climbed down a small ladder. The first step on another planet was one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind. Armstrong took that first step—and what a first step it was. That one small step completely changed our world forever. It’s hard to imagine how much has changed since then. If you had told someone in 1969 that we would have walked on Mars by now, they probably wouldn’t believe you. But here we are! It’s incredible to think about how far we’ve come since then—and just how much farther we still have to go!
Part Three – Gravity
The view of Earth was spectacular. I could see our spacecraft and, in particular, its S-IVB third stage tumbling in front of me. I tried to point my camera at it but could not hold it steady enough to get a picture… I had all I could do just to keep from floating away. – Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 Astronaut . When Neil Armstrong first took his small step onto the surface of Luna, he may have said One small step for man, but for us today, we can’t help but wonder about what it must have been like for him and Buzz Aldrin to be there; on another planet; looking back up at us. It’s hard for us today to even imagine how something like that would make you feel, or what those feelings might be – awe? excitement? uncertainty?
Part Four – Touchdown!
As Apollo 11 neared its landing site, I closed my eyes and said a little prayer to myself. The lunar surface appeared in my mind’s eye as we slowly crossed Mare Tranquilitatis (the Sea of Tranquility) to land. Finally, Neil announced we were 50 feet up, hovering above craters and rocks and one funny-looking crater before settling gently on an area that looked like it might be safe to land. After bouncing a couple of times, Eagle finally came to rest about 30 minutes after our liftoff from Cape Kennedy. Houston, Tranquility Base here.
Post-flight Press Conference
In case you missed it, former U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin recently visited New York City to promote his new documentary about Apollo 11, appropriately titled Apollo 11. During a press conference in Manhattan he answered journalists’ questions about life as an astronaut and what it was like to be one of only twelve humans to walk on Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor. Here are some of Aldrin’s comments from that meeting… [listen to audio here] Project Gemini: Aldrin spent three years as part of NASA’s Gemini program, which ran from March 1965 through November 1966. He flew two missions during that time—the first with Jim Lovell in 1966 and then again with Tom Stafford in 1967—and went on to train for Apollo 10, which ultimately landed him atop Mt.
