Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the moon, signing copies of Magnificent Desolation

• 7/10/10 11:00 AM at Gallery 114 – National Air & Space Museum. Washington DC.
• 9/11/10 1:00 PM at the Aurora Lounge – Luxor Hotel. Las Vegas, NV.

Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., January 20, 1930) is an American aviator and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first lunar landing. He and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first persons to land on the Moon; shortly afterward he became the second man to set foot on the Moon.

Are you a collector of fine leather bound books?  Check out the signed limited edition of “NASA Complete Illustrated History”, personally signed by Buzz Aldrin.

Easton Press, NASA: The Complete Illustrated History", Signed Limited Edition, Signed by Buzz Aldrin

• Find more uniquely signed and rare books in our Space & Exploration collection.

Military Carreer
Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951 with a B.Sc. degree. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft. The June 8, 1953 issue of LIFE magazine featured gun camera photos taken by Aldrin of one of the Russian pilots ejecting from his damaged aircraft.

Aldrin is a Presbyterian, and is known for his statements about God. 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.” He received Communion on the surface of the Moon, but kept it secret because of a lawsuit brought by Madalyn Murray O’Hair over the reading of Genesis on Apollo 8.[14] Aldrin, a church elder, used a pastor’s home Communion kit given to him by Dean Woodruff and recited words used by his pastor at Webster Presbyterian Church. He celebrated Communion alone, without his colleague Armstrong participating. Webster Presbyterian Church, a local congregation in Webster, Texas (a Houston suburb near the Johnson Space Center) possesses the chalice used for communion on the moon, and commemorates the event annually on the Sunday closest to July 20th.

Aldrin is represented by the Executive Speakers Bureau of Memphis, Tennessee, and receives between $30,000-$50,000 per appearance.

Outside Life
Since retiring from NASA and the Air Force, Col. Aldrin has remained at the forefront of efforts to ensure America’s continued leadership in human space exploration. He devised a master plan for missions to Mars known as the “Aldrin Mars Cycler” – a spacecraft system with perpetual cycling orbits between Earth and Mars. Dr. Aldrin has received three US patents for his schematics of a modular space station, Starbooster reusable rockets, and multi-crew modules for space flight. He founded Starcraft Boosters, Inc., a rocket design company, and the ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to advancing space education, exploration and affordable space flight experiences for all. Buzz also promotes his Rocket Hero brand launched in 2008 through his newest entity, StarBuzz LLC.

Dr. Aldrin has penned his dramatic memoirs in a new autobiography due out in 2009. He continues to inspire today’s youth with his illustrated children’s books: Reaching for the Moon, a New York Times best-seller, and his latest, Look to the Stars, a 2009 release. He has also authored two space science-fact-fiction novels: The Return and Encounter with Tiber. His non-fiction works include the best-seller historical documentary, Men from Earth, and an early 1970′s autobiography, Return to Earth.

On Valentine’s Day 1988, Buzz married Lois Driggs of Phoenix, Arizona. She is a Stanford University graduate, an active community leader in Southern California and Co-Chairman of StarBuzz Enterprises. Their combined family includes six adult children from previous marriages and one grandson. Sharing a similar passion for adventure, their worldwide business travels include leisure time ocean scuba diving and winter mountain skiing.

As one of the leading space exploration advocates, Buzz continues to chart a course for future space travel from Planet Earth to the moon and on to the stars.

References: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/8944/

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