[equaviator]

I have a lot of different astronauts on my list of who I think are the greatest but Buzz Aldrin is my all-time favorite.

[Alberta's Child]

I saw a great documentary about the U.S. space program some years ago, and they made the point that the lunar missions never would have taken place if it weren't for Aldrin.

Apparently the early Apollo astronauts were having serious physical problems in weightless environments when they were preparing for those missions. It was bad enough that NASA had pretty much reached the conclusion that the human body could not function well enough in space for more than 1-2 days, which meant a lunar mission was out of the question.

Aldrin was apparently so adept at functioning in a weightless environment without any problems at all that NASA realized the physiological limitations of humans in space could be overcome if they got the right people and the right training process in place.

[generally]

My hat’s off to all the astronauts, but Aldrin is my favorite, too!

[Hulka]

I suppose so. . .but my take is different.

I think he has the “also ran” syndrome.

Always second. When mentioning who walked on the moon first, Armstrong is mentioned, when asked who was the second, far fewer can remember his name.

When Neil Armstrong received an aviation award in London (Guild Award of Honour), Buzz asked to see if it could arranged so he can receive the same award as Neil. . .nope, Royals said one was enough, the man that walked first om the moon and while being the second one to walk on the moon was notable, he wasn’t the first.