Apollo 11 Legend Buzz Aldrin Ascends on SMU

Sam Todd
stodd@smu.edu

Legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin, best known for being the second man to walk on the moon, the spoke at the Tate Lecture student forum in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Tuesday Dec. 8. Aldrin walked on the moon after his commander Neil Armstrong, as a member of the crew of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969.

The former astronaut is still very involved with the NASA space program, as he mentioned he was expecting a call from the president of NASA, and voiced his strong opinions on where he thinks the space program should be headed. Settlement was a word he used often, as in the settlement of the planet Mars.

Aldrin, who greeted the crowd with great enthusiasm before telling his life story to a standing room of only SMU students, local area high school students and assorted faculty, constantly pointed out that if the United States’ space program continues to move at it’s current pace, we will most likely not be the first country to land on Mars. As Aldrin was one of the first to land on the moon, this cause is of great importance to him and it seems that much of his time is invested in working with the engineers at NASA today.

Students and faculty lined up to ask Aldrin questions, which dealt with his experiences being in space, his thoughts on the new industry of space tourism and what he’s working on currently in the field of space exploration. He answered the questions thoroughly, and although he may have gotten off track several times, the audience seemed to enjoy his candid answers and tales of what it was like to be one of the first to walk on the Moon.

One question that stood out came from an SMU student who mentioned he had seen a video of Aldrin punching a man in the face who made allegations that Aldrin had never been into space, and asked the former astronaut what he thought of the people who didn’t believe that space travel ever occurred. His answer was simple, the people who deny man have walked on the moon are wrong, and the only reason that people pay attention to them and the media discusses them is because people are gullible, and give them attention that they don’t deserve. He jokingly lashed out at the crowd, yelling that everyone was gullible, but his personal recount of the story was one of the most entertaining portions of the question and answer session.

Although the room was mainly filled with students, many members of the Dallas community attended, as Aldrin was an icon of their generation. Three members of the audience were educators from Highland Park High School, located not far from SMU’s campus. Highland Park Principal Patrick Cates was one of those educators in the crowd.

“I’ve been interested in the space program since I was very little, and I was younger than 10-years-old when I watched the Mercury launch,” said Cates.

“I was so into it that my mother let me skip school to watch, which is ironic as I’m now a school principal. But then it was truly important to see, and now to see Buzz Aldrin in person is a dream come true.”

Mari Schaefer and Kathy Sloan, who also work at Highland Park, accompanied Cates to the event. Sloan at first mentioned that she only came because Cates brought her along, but she soon revealed she too had a lifelong interest in NASA and the space program.

“I’ve watched every shuttle lift-off, except for one. And that was because I was in labor,” said Sloan. “It’s just so fascinating, and Buzz Aldrin is truly the Einstein of his field.”

Cates also pointed out how significant and important Aldrin really is, especially to people who belong to a generation that idolized the astronauts who made it to the Moon.

“I think that even 500 years from now people will still remember how important he really was, and compare him to history’s great explorers like Christopher Columbus and Charles Lindbergh,” he said.

“He really is a true historical figure.”