The second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, spent a part of his Tuesday-evening lecture at Mississippi State University telling the capacity crowd about the miracle of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the Moon.
The miracle wasn’t the result of the three astronauts–himself, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins–working alone, he said. Instead it was the collaborative effort of untold thousands of people uniting to work toward a single, seemingly-impossible goal.
The Apollo 11 crew was welcomed as heroes when they returned to Earth — but the celebration wasn’t just about them, Aldrin said.
“We understood that people were not cheering for three guys, but for what we represented,” he said. “That by a nation and the world coming together, we had accomplished the impossible. The true value of Apollo was the amazing story of innovation and teamwork that overcame many obstacles to reach the moon. I feel so privileged to have been a part of this event.”
In all, Aldrin said, 400,000 people were involved in sending men to the moon, from engineers and project managers to the seamstresses who built the space suits.
Even so, the mission wasn’t easygoing.
Aldrin said the Apollo 11 crew was estimated to have a roughly 60 percent chance of success — even though he said mission controllers told them at the time it was closer to 90 percent.
Aldrin said one hiccup arose after the mission reached the moon, when he realized the circuit breaker for the engine-arming circuit had broken off. The complication could have left the mission stranded on the moon, but after a relaying the development to mission control and sleeping for a night, Aldrin said he found he could use a felt tip pen to arm the circuit.
“Even with all the years of careful planning and training, something so small like a broken circuit breaker could have made a bad day,” he said.
Aldrin’s passion for space still burns today, nearly 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission. He said it’s still important for humanity to keep pushing to further explore space.
Aldrin said doing so not only fills mankind’s natural desire to explore, but helps make life better on Earth itself. He pointed to improvements like GPS and cell phones or the medical advances that have been a result of space exploration.
“By venturing into space, we improve the life for everybody here on earth. There are scientific advancements and innovation that comes from space.”
Aldrin actively advocates for manned trips to Mars, and he’s worked with several universities across the country to research it. In August 2015, he established the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at the Florida Institute of Technology, which looks to research and promote Mars settlement. Aldrin’s been dedicated to the concept for decades. In 1985, he began devising a master plan for a mission to Mars, known as “Aldrin Mars Cycler” — a spacecraft system with perpetual cycling orbits between Earth and Mars, which he continues to work on. He said reaching the planet won’t be easy, just as the reaching the moon wasn’t easy. However, he said, with people working together, it’s possible.
“Apollo was the story of people at their very best,” he said. “We started with a dream and we did the impossible. I know because I’m living proof. I believe the impossible can be done again.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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