NASA honors Apollo moon walker Buzz Aldrin
NASA will honor former astronaut Buzz Aldrin for his involvement in the U.S. space program with the presentation of the Ambassador of Exploration Award.
The ceremony will be March 25 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
The Ambassador of Exploration Award is a small sample of lunar material encased in Lucite and mounted for public display. The material is part of the 842 pounds of samples brought back to Earth during the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972.
Aldrin was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, and, on July 20, 1969, became the second man to set foot on the moon. He spent 2 hours, 15 minutes on the lunar surface with Neil Armstrong, while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited the moon.
Aldrin also flew on the four-day Gemini 12 mission with James Lovell in November 1966.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
