Born January 20, 1930 (Montclair, New Jersey)

American astronaut, engineer, author

On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Buzz Aldrin made history as the second human to walk on the surface of the Moon. Climbing out of the hatch of the Eagle lunar landing module of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, he followed Neil Armstrong (1930–; see entry) down to the surface. This his toric first Moon landing came at an important time for the United States, which had been engaged with the former So viet Union in a period of hostile relations known as the Cold War (1945–91). They were competing for military superiority as well as for dominance in space. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik space satellites (objects that orbit in space) to study Earth's atmosphere, a development that alarmed many Americans. Now the Apollo 11 mission had brought the United States to the forefront of space exploration. Although Armstrong is most closely...