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
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong to that airport." The young Armstrong becomes a naval aviator. Management of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) takes an interest in Armstrong's combination of calmness and personal skill coupled with his above-average intellect. Although contrasting somewhat with many of his colleagues, the Apollo 11 crew winding up as "amiable strangers", he attracts widespread respect. The fact that Armstrong gets chosen to be "first down" on the lunar surface is a surprise, with astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. being expected to get priority. The mission itself proceeds spectacularly well, and Armstrong gives his famous line: "That's one small step