On Thursday, June 23, the San Diego Air & Space Museum will be hosting a historic event, “To the Moon and Back: An Evening with America’s Space Heroes. To the Moon and Back will feature panel discussions with astronauts, flight leaders, and key personnel from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Leading up to the event, the Museum’s blog will take a look at each of the evening’s invitees, starting with Buzz Aldrin. 

(Left to Right - Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11)

As Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 11, the first lunar landing, Buzz Aldrin is (along with Neil Armstrong) the first person to ever land on the moon. Watched by millions around the world on live television, the duo spent over two hours working on the lunar surface. Aldrin’s first space flight, on Gemini 12, was an opportunity to perform a spacewalk that solved many of the issues that had plagued previous missions, allowing NASA to move into the Apollo era with confidence. Aldrin continues to advocate for space exploration as a strong supporter of manned missions to Mars. For more information, visit http://buzzaldrin.com/ or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin.

To the Moon and Back will feature panel discussions with the astronauts, flight leaders, and key personnel from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Tickets for To the Moon and Back are available at www.sandiegoairandspace.org/events/moon.