Buzz Aldrin

Aldrin in an official photo for the Apollo 11 crew, 1969

Dr. Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., retired Colonel (born January 20, 1930) is an American pilot and astronaut. He was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He was one of the first people to walk on the Moon (with Neil Armstrong) during the Apollo 11 mission.

The Lunar Lander Module landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

He was 39 when he set foot on the moon. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the military academy West Point in 1951. After graduate and postgraduate studies, he received a Doctorate of Science in Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1963. He received an honorary Doctorate of Science from Gustavus-Adolphus-College in 1967.

Later life

Aldrin left NASA in March 1972. He has been married three times: to Joan Archer, to Beverly Zile, and to his current wife, Lois Driggs Cannon. He had three children with Joan, named James, Janice and Andrew. He married Cannon on Valentine's Day, 1988. He is the oldest contestant on the television series Dancing with the Stars. He competed in 2010.