Magnificent Desolation (book) notes that "Aldrin removes his space helmet and shows us the very human face of an all-American hero." The ISBN number of "Magnificent Desolation" is . Magnificent Desolation (book) Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon is the second of two autobiographical books written by Buzz Aldrin, the former Apollo 11 astronaut who with Neil Armstrong made the first human Moon landing. The book concentrates mainly on the period after his return from space, and illuminates many of the difficulties he had in coping with his instant world-wide fame following the achievement. He writes candidly about depression, the
Buzz Aldrin return to the Air Force. During his NASA career, he had spent 289 hours and 53 minutes in space, of which 7 hours and 52 minutes spent was in EVA. He hoped to become Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy, but this job was given to his West Point classmate Hoyt S. Vandenberg Jr. Aldrin was assigned as Commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on July 1, 1971. Aldrin had neither managerial nor test pilot experience, but a third of the training curriculum was devoted to astronaut training,