Buzz Aldrin on July 20, Aldrin and Armstrong entered "Eagle", and began the final preparations for lunar descent. At 17:44:00 "Eagle" separated from the "Columbia". Collins, alone aboard "Columbia", inspected "Eagle" as it pirouetted before him to ensure the craft was not damaged, and that the landing gear was correctly deployed. Throughout the descent, Aldrin called out navigation data to Armstrong, who was busy piloting the "Eagle". Five minutes into the descent burn, and above the surface of the Moon, the LM guidance computer (LGC) distracted the crew with the first of several unexpected alarms that indicated that it could not complete
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,