Aldrin, Buzz (Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.), 1930–, American astronaut, b. Montclair, N.J. After graduating from West Point (1951), Aldrin joined the U.S. air force and flew 66 combat missions during the Korean War. His doctoral thesis at the Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (1963) on orbital mechanics laid the foundation for flight techniques employed later in the lunar landing program. In 1966 he was selected as an astronaut by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Aldrin was the prime pilot of Gemini 12 (Nov. 11–15, 1966), a 59-revolution flight that brought the Gemini space program to a successful close; his 5 1/2-hour space walk established a record for extravehicular activity at that time and proved that a person could function in the weightless vacuum of space. As the lunar module pilot of Apollo 11 (June 16–24, 1969) Aldrin made the first lunar landing with Neil Armstrong, and on June 20 became the second person (after Armstrong) to walk on the moon. 

After retiring from NASA, Aldrin served (1971–72) as commandant of the Aerospace Research Pilots' School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. He retired from the Air Force in 1972 to enter private business and to lecture and consult on space exploration.

"Space travel has many things in common with our journeys here on earth." 

• Buzz was born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on January 20, 1930 in Montclair, New Jersey. 

• After graduating from West Point with honors in 1951 and receiving his wings, he flew combat missions in the Korean Conflict. 

• He earned a Doctorate in Astronautics from MIT with his thesis on "Manned Space Rendezvous" in 1963. The techniques he devised were used on all NASA missions, including the first space docking with the Russian Cosmonauts. 

• In October 1963, Buzz was selected by NASA as one of the early astronauts. In November 1966, he established a new 5 hour record for Extra-Vehicular Activity in space on the Gemini XII orbital flight mission and performed one of the first successful space walks. 

• He served as Backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo VIII, man's first flight around the moon. 

• Then on July 20, 1969, Dr. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made their historic Apollo XI moon walk, becoming the first two humans to set foot on another world. This was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. 

• Upon returning from the moon, he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor amongst over 50 other distinguished awards and medals from the United States and numerous other countries. 

• Since retiring from NASA, the Air Force, and his position as Commander of the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Dr. Aldrin developed "The Cycler," a spacecraft system which makes perpetual orbits between Earth and Mars, and in 1993
received a U.S. patent for a permanent space station he designed.

• As Starcraft Enterprises, the name of his private space endeavors, Dr. Aldrin lectures and travels throughout the world to pursue ideas for exploring the universe. 

• Dr. Aldrin also chairs both the National Space Society and the Share Space Foundation. 

Astronaut & Explorer, walked on moon July 20, 1969. Daniel Cox Medalist March 17, 1970.

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