Buzz Aldrin (article) by Susan K. Smith on AuthorsDen

To Infinity and beyond ....

Apollo 11 was a watershed mission. It was unique. It would never be repeated to have another first human being walk on an extraterrestrial world.

[For more info: Apollo 11 Mission Overview ]

In 1969, an estimated 530 viewers watched Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon:

(reference: https://youtu.be/RMINSD7MmT4 )

And he said these words: "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"

What about the second man?

Buzz Aldrin is the man in the spacesuit in the photo at the top of the page. And Neil Armstrong took his picture. His words were most poetic recorded in the clip below:

(reference: https://youtu.be/rtQ051t2dfw )

"Magnificent Desolation"

And that became of title of one of his books: Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon

And speaking of books ....

In the first book of The Commander and the Chief series, His Tribe of One, Chief Nova Orlovic remembers the second man on the moon as well as the first. The following excerpt takes place in the Middle-Eastern desert with Nova, Colonel Jack Sheffield, and Commander Reginald Barrett during their search for Admiral Quinn:

Mid-morning, Jack stopped on the crest of a bluff and surveyed the landscape. “I need to do a recalibration.” He turned on his smart tablet, then connected a cable into the KNOSE.

“Magnificent desolation.” Nova scanned the wilderness—edifices of stone, rising like fortresses, floating on an ocean of pale yellow sand.

“I’ve heard that before. Somewhere.” Reggie skimmed the desert-scape from his backseat window.

Nova turned around. “Buzz Aldrin.”

“Buzz who?” Reggie squinted at her.

“How quickly we forget.” Nova shook her head. “Buzz Aldrin was the second man on the moon…after Neil Armstrong, of course.”

“Right-o.” Jack chimed in. “Admiral Quinn was an astronaut. So you know this ancient history.”

“Doesn’t seem that long ago, though it happened before I was born.” Nova panned the moonscape-like desert. “Yet this place reminds me of the Badlands in the Dakotas, only with sand and stuff.”

Jack said, “So these Badlands look like the moon?”

“In many ways, they do.” Nova returned a fond look. “Actually Jack, parts of Wyoming have been likened to Antarctica.”

from Part 5: The Badlands, Chapter 1: The Backside of the Desert.

[for more info on the book: smithsk.com/cc.htm ]

To Infinity and beyond ....

Though Neil Armstrong had shunned the limelight and passed away in 2012, Buzz Aldrin has been more active in popular culture as well as promoting his vision of space.

And he inspired Disney's Toy Story character, Buzz Lightyear. In the clip below, one Buzz coaches another Buzz for a coming shuttle mission to the International Space Station. [reference: Buzz Aldrin FAQ ]

(reference: https://youtu.be/R5TDbrsq5jI )

To echo the Buzz Lightyear catch phrase, to infinity and beyond, Buzz Aldrin has a plan to colonise Mars by 2040

To the 21st century ...

In step with the times, Buzz Aldrin is active on social media, such as twitter .TheRealBuzz and Facebook Buzz Aldrin as well as his own website: buzzaldrin.com.

And Buzz created quite a buzz with this cameo on The Big Bang Theory :

(reference: https://youtu.be/OhUjmRsWbzY )

Astronauts are heroes.

And a very elite subset of them have walked on the moon.

To find out more about a fictional astronaut hero, Admiral Connor Quinn, please read the book and its coming sequels.

His Tribe of One, now available:

* Paperback: CreateSpace

* eBook: Kindle

Nook

Your readership is much appreciated.

S. K. Smith

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For other posts in this series:

CC (part 1) - The Commander and the Chief: His Tribe of One (2014)

CC (part 2) - Universe in a Glass of Wine (2014)

CC (part 3) - Happy Bill of Rights Day (2014)

CC (part 4) - Stories and the Brain (2015)

CC (part 5) - Audie Murphy (2014)

CC (part 6) - Pavle Orlovic (2015)

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photo from: Buzz Aldrin/wikipedia.com

Web Site: smithsk: CC (part 7) - Buzz Aldrin

Hiraeth- (noun) - a deep, wistful, nostalgic sense of longing for home; a home that is no longer or perhaps never was. A yearning and wistful grief fo

Reviewed by Susan Smith

Reviewed on December 19, 2015

Thank you, Edward and Ronald, for stopping by and showing your experience.

Susan

Reviewed by E Phillips

Reviewed on December 15, 2015

Somewhere on the internet is a video of Buzz Aldrin being confronted by a wise guy who told him the whole moon trip was a creation by Hollywood. "It didn't happen," said the joker, and Buzz should be ashamed of himself. Buzz leveled him with a left hook. What a guy!

Reviewed by Ronald Hull

Reviewed on December 11, 2015

Buzz still amazes with all he has done since that historic day when humankind not only left the earth, but we stepped on another planet, fully feeling the difference in its gravity.

I have been fortunate to talk to some of Woerner von Braun's Redstone crew in Huntsville, see Walter Shirra pass by in the hallway at North American's Downy, California plant where I saw the Apollo 11 command module and many others in an assembly line, listen to Borman and Lovell talk humorously about their Gemini flight, and befriend Mae Jemison while attending three of her DARPA funded symposia, 100 Year Starship.

People like Buzz Aldrin make this a wonderful time to be alive.

Another wonderful and informative article!

Ron