Buzz Aldrin - Biography.

Buzz Aldrin - Biography. American astronaut Birth January 20, 1930 Place of Birth Montclair, New Jersey Known for Piloting the lunar landing module on Apollo 11, the first manned landing on the moon, and becoming the second person to walk on the moon's surface Career 1951 Received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point 1951-1953 Flew sixty-six combat missions in Korea 1963 Received a doctorate in astronautics from MIT 1963 Joined the NASA astronaut program November 1966 Piloted Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission July 20, 1969 Piloted the lunar landing module of Apollo 11, and became the second man to walk on the moon 1969 Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom 1971 Retired from NASA and became commander of the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California 1972 Retired from the United States Air Force 1988 Founded the private company Starcraft Enterprises Did You As a graduate student at MIT, Aldrin devised rendezvous and docking techniques that he later used as a NASA astronaut. Know Born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., Aldrin adopted the nickname Buzz as his legal name in 1988. Due to the global significance of the Apollo 11 mission, the mission patch did not include the individual crew members' names. Aldrin spent three weeks in quarantine upon his return from the moon. Aldrin was the first astronaut to resume a military career after retiring from NASA. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.