Birthday of Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, born January 20, 1930
January 20, 2026
Although he went to the Moon with the name Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., he legally changed his name later. His older sister Fay Ann, as a toddler, mispronounced “brother” as “buzzer” when he was born.
He was the 2nd person to walk on the Moon, arriving as the Lunar Module “Eagle” pilot that also brought Neil Armstrong there on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. He is credited with developing key rendezvous and docking techniques for spacecraft, and for pioneering underwater training methods to simulate spacewalking.
He is the author of books Return to Earth (an autobiography) and Men from Earth (about the Apollo Program).
Asteroid 6470 Aldrin and Aldrin Crater on the Moon are named in his honor.
