Apollo 11 was a watershed mission. It was unique. It would never be repeated to have another first human being walk on an extraterrestrial world.
[For more info: Apollo 11 Mission Overview ]
In 1969, an estimated 530 viewers watched
Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon:
And he said these words:
"...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"
What about the second man?
Buzz Aldrin is the man in the spacesuit in the photo at the top of the page. And Neil Armstrong took his picture. His words were most poetic recorded in the clip below:
"Magnificent Desolation"
And that became of title of one of his books:
Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon
And speaking of books ....
In the first book of
The Commander and the Chief series,
His Tribe of One, Chief Nova Orlovic remembers the second man on the moon as well as the first. The following excerpt takes place in the Middle-Eastern desert with Nova, Colonel Jack Sheffield, and Commander Reginald Barrett during their search for Admiral Quinn:
Mid-morning, Jack stopped on the crest of a bluff and
surveyed the landscape. “I need to do a recalibration.” He turned on his smart
tablet, then connected a cable into the KNOSE.
“Magnificent desolation.” Nova scanned the wilderness—edifices
of stone, rising like fortresses, floating on an ocean of pale yellow sand.
“I’ve heard that before. Somewhere.” Reggie skimmed the
desert-scape from his backseat window.
Nova turned around. “Buzz Aldrin.”
“Buzz who?” Reggie squinted at her.
“How quickly we forget.” Nova shook her head. “Buzz Aldrin
was the second man on the moon…after Neil Armstrong, of course.”
“Right-o.” Jack chimed in. “Admiral Quinn was an astronaut.
So you know this ancient history.”
“Doesn’t seem that long ago, though it happened before I was
born.” Nova panned the moonscape-like desert. “Yet this place reminds me of the
Badlands in the Dakotas, only with sand and stuff.”
Jack said, “So these Badlands look like the moon?”
“In many ways, they do.” Nova returned a fond look.
“Actually Jack, parts of Wyoming have been likened to Antarctica.”
from Part 5: The Badlands, Chapter 1: The Backside of the Desert.
[for more info on the book: smithsk.com/cc.htm ]
To Infinity and beyond ....
Though Neil Armstrong had shunned the limelight and
passed away in 2012, Buzz Aldrin has been more active in popular culture as well as promoting his vision of space.
And he inspired Disney's Toy Story character,
Buzz Lightyear. In the clip below, one Buzz coaches another Buzz for a coming shuttle mission to the International Space Station.
[reference: Buzz Aldrin FAQ ]
