Biography born today in history

b. Montclair, N.J. After graduating from West Point (1951), Aldrin joined the U.S. air force and flew 66 combat missions during the Korean War. His doctoral thesis at the Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (1963) on orbital mechanics laid the foundation for flight techniques employed later in the lunar landing program.

In 1966 he was selected as an astronaut by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Aldrin was the prime pilot of Gemini 12 (Nov.

Biography born today in history sept 7

11–15, 1966), a 59-revolution flight that brought the Gemini space program to a successful close; his 5½-hour space walk established a record for extravehicular activity at that time and proved that a person could function in the weightless vacuum of space.

As the lunar module pilot of Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) Aldrin made the first lunar landing with Neil Armstrong, and on July 20 (EDST) became the second person (after Armstrong) to walk on the moon. After retiring from NASA, Aldrin served (1971–72) as commandant of