Buzz Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He graduated from Montclair High School and attended the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. As a boy, he was given the nickname "Buzz" by his sister�she mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer", and this was shortened to Buzz�and he made it his legal first name in 1988

He graduated third in his class in 1951 with a bachelor of science degree. Aldrin was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and served as a jet fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, where he flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft. After leaving Korea, Aldrin was an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, and later an aide to the dean of faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. After leaving this assignment, Aldrin flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg, Germany.
Buzz Aldrin in dress uniform
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Buzz Aldrin in dress uniform

Aldrin left military service to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where he earned his doctorate of science in Astronautics. His graduate thesis was Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous. After leaving MIT, he returned to the Air Force and was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles, and later to Edwards Air Force Base at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service.
Buzz walks on the surface of the Moon during Apollo 11.
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Buzz walks on the surface of the Moon during Apollo 11.

Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts in October 1963. His serious and intellectual manner proved invaluable during the planning of the Gemini missions but he was not in line for a flight. The deaths of the prime crew for Gemini 9 meant that Aldrin was promoted to back-up crew for the mission. Gemini 9A's main objective was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle but when this failed Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous with a co-ordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission and the last chance to prove methods for EVA. He utilized revolutionary techniques during training for that mission, including neutrally-buoyant underwater training. Such techniques are still used today. Aldrin set a record for extra-vehicular activity and proved that astronauts could work outside the spacecraft.

Aldrin has had a much more public persona than Neil Armstrong, and there has been much speculation that he was initially chosen to be the first astronaut out of the Lunar Module, and therefore the first to walk on the moon. The LM's hatch opened inwards and to the right, making it impossible for Aldrin (the lunar module pilot), on the right-hand side, to egress first.

Buzz is well known for having a spiritual side, being a Freemason, and for having made statements about God -- including celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion on the surface of the moon. After landing on the moon, Aldrin radioed earth with these words: "I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way." Aldrin's reason for wanting a little quiet was so he could celebrate the Sacrament. Using a pastor's home Communion kit given to him by Dean Woodruff and using words used by his pastor at Webster Presbyterian Church, Aldrin celebrated Communion alone, without his colleague Armstrong participating. ("First on the Moon -- A Voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr", written with Gene Farmer and Dora Jane Hamblin, epilogue by Arthur C. Clark. Michael Joseph Ltd, London (1970), page 251).

    * Buzz Aldrin steps onto the Moon (file info)
          o Video from the Apollo 11 mission
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After leaving active duty as an astronaut Aldrin returned to the Air Force in a managerial role but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiography Return to Earth provides an account of his struggles with depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration, including producing a unique computer strategy game called "Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space" (1992). He played the role of Reverend Woodruff in the 1996 TV movie Apollo 11.
Aldrin near module leg
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Aldrin near module leg

Aldrin also teamed up with science fiction author John Barnes to write Encounter With Tiber and The Return.

In 2002, President Bush appointed Aldrin to the Presidential Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry[3].

A small crater on the Moon near the Apollo 11 landing site is named in his honor.

He also has a TV star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood and Vine.

He voiced himself in "Deep Space Homer", an episode of The Simpsons in which he flies into space with Homer Simpson and fictional astronaut Race Banyon. He also appeared in an interview with Ali G in the British comedy series Ali G in da USA.

He currently serves on the National Space Society's[4] Board of Governors, and has served as the organization's Chairman.

In 1988 Aldrin legally changed his first name to "Buzz".

In 2005, through small publisher [5]Flatsigned Press, Aldrin released two leather bound signed limited editions, Men From Earth and Encounter with Tiber.