Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin (born 1930) and fellow American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins received world-wide recognition for their Apollo 11 lunar spaceflight in July of 1969. Aldrin, who followed Armstrong from the lunar landing module Eagle, became the second person to ever walk on the moon.

Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin was born on January 20, 1930, in Montclair, New Jersey. Nicknamed "Buzz" by his sister, Aldrin's upbringing contributed greatly to his later career choices. His mother, Marion Moon, was the daughter of an army chaplain. His father, Air Force Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., was a former student of rocket scientist Robert Goddard, and an aviation pioneer in his own right.

Aldrin graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1951, ranking third in his graduating class. After graduation, Aldrin was as an officer in the Air Force. A year later, he was sent to Korea as a fighter...