Buzz Aldrin: What That Apollo 11 ‘UFO’ Really Was, and Why He Punched That Moon-Landing Denier

KENDRICK FRAZIER

Buzz Aldrin is an American hero. The Apollo 11 astronaut walked on the moon with Neil Armstrong, the first two humans to do so. Now in his mid eighties and still full of that just-get-it-done spirit, he has become a tireless advocate of space exploration, especially a future manned mission to Mars. (He proudly sports his motto, “Get Your Ass to Mars,” on T-shirts at public gatherings around the world.) He has a PhD from MIT and considers himself a scientist.

His most recent book, No Dream Is Too High (National Geographic Books, 2016), is dedicated to “the dreamers, the out-of-the-box thinkers and seatof-the-pants innovators like me.” It is filled with stories illustrating his lively brand of life’s lessons. Among them:

The sky is not the limit . . . there are footprints on the moon. Keep your mind open to possibilities. Maintain your spirit of adventure. Failure is always an option (“If you are afraid to fail, you probably won’t accomplish much in life”). Do what you believe is right even when others choose otherwise. Keep a young mind-set at every age.

The latter is what has given him so much appeal to younger generations.