Magnificent Desolation; The Long Journey Home from the Moon
New York: Three Rivers Press, 2010. First Paperback Edition [stated]. First printing [stated]. Trade paperback. x, [2], 336, [4] pages. Illustrations (some in color). A Note About ShareSpace. Index. Cover has some wear and soiling. Inscribed on half-title by Aldrin. Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., January 20, 1930) is an American engineer and former astronaut. As the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, he was one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, and the second person to walk on it. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer with the Command Pilot rating. He also went into orbit on the Gemini 12 mission, finally achieving the goals for EVA (space-walk work) that paved the way to the Moon and success for the Gemini program. In January 1963, Aldrin earned a Sc.D. degree in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he had been assigned as a graduate student (under the auspices of the Air Force Institute of Technology) since 1959. His doctoral thesis was Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous. On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut. Aldrin was chosen for the crew of Apollo 11 and made the first lunar landing with commander Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969. Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view." Then, in response to Armstrong asking, "Isn't it magnificent?", he responded, "Magnificent desolation." He was also the first person to urinate while on the Moon. More