Neil Armstrong December 23, 1968, as Apollo 8 orbited the Moon. In a meeting that was not made public until the publication of Armstrong's biography in 2005, Slayton told him that although the planned crew was Commander Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, he was offering Armstrong the chance to replace Aldrin with Jim Lovell. After thinking it over for a day, Armstrong told Slayton he would stick with Aldrin, as he had no difficulty working with him and thought Lovell deserved his own command. Replacing Aldrin with Lovell would have made Lovell the lunar module
Apollo 11 (film) to add authenticity. Buzz Aldrin, one of the three Apollo 11 astronauts, contributed to this movie as technical consultant. He was not always on set for the movie, but he made an effort to keep up with the film's production. He was filmed for a cameo, but the scene was cut from the film. During the scene, he played a clergyman that interacted with Xander Berkeley, who portrayed Aldrin in the film. Neil Armstrong was asked by Aldrin if he was interested in participating in the film's creation, but Armstrong never got back to him. Fearful that the Soviets would