Buzz Aldrin Aldrin cycler, a special spacecraft trajectory that makes travel to Mars possible using less time and propellant. He was accorded numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and is listed in several Halls of Fame, and has plaques on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. was born January 20, 1930, in Mountainside Hospital, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. His parents were Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr. and Marion Aldrin ( Moon), who lived in neighboring Montclair, New Jersey. His father was Army aviator during World War I, and the assistant commandant of the Army's test
Buzz Aldrin and students flew a modified F-104 Starfighter to the edge of space. Fellow Group 3 astronaut and moonwalker Alan Bean considered him well-qualified for the job. Aldrin did not get along well with his superior, Brigadier General Robert M. White, who had earned his astronaut wings flying the X-15. Aldrin's celebrity status led to people to defer to him more than the higher-ranking general. He was hospitalized for depression. His mother committed suicide in May 1968. Aldrin feared that his fame after Gemini 12 contributed. Her father had also committed suicide, and he believes he inherited depression from them. There