Astronaut Buzz Aldrin looks back on 50th anniversary of Apollo 11

On the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin has revealed that he was disconnected from how momentous the occasion was for the people on Earth.

Buzz Aldrin has called for America to lead the way in a “next step space alliance” on the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing.

The 89-year-old took to social media as the world remembers the historic Apollo 11 mission.

The second human to ever set foot on the moon has delivered a brief video message to his 1.4 million Twitter followers.

Apollo 11 crew Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin after returning to earth in 1969. Image: NASA

“1961, President (John F) Kennedy charged America to a moon landing before 1970,” Aldrin said.

“The early landers production schedule would’ve lead to a landing by mid-October 1969 by Apollo 12.

50 years ago today, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I launched into space on a mission of enormous importance. God bless the 400,000 Americans who helped us get to the moon and back. Together, we Americans can do anything! Never forget July 16, 1969! #Apollo50 pic.twitter.com/lX6456UO2N

— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 17, 2019

“Despite the tragic Apollo fire, January ‘67, NASA recovered, orbited the moon Christmas 1968 and was able to launch Apollo 11 with Columbia and Lander Eagle on July 16th 1969 to land four days later at Tranquillity Base.

“By my greatest good fortune, I was able to join Neil (Armstrong) and Mike (Collins) on the Saturn 5 that day.

“I look forward to America’s leading role in a next step space alliance.”

Armstrong, the first man on the moon, died aged 82 in 2012.

But Aldrin and Collins, 88, have played major roles to celebrate the momentous event of 1969.

Apollo 11’s launch. Photo: HO / NASA / AFP)

Aldrin told a 50th anniversary gala outside Los Angeles on the weekend that he recalls the first moments of the Apollo 11 launch being so smooth that he and his two crewmates were unsure precisely when they left the ground.

He remembers the white-knuckle descent to the moon’s dusty surface in the four-legged lunar module Eagle, as Armstrong took manual control of the landing craft to pilot it to a safe touchdown, just seconds from running out of fuel.

And he said he and his crewmates were so absorbed in doing their jobs that they were oddly disconnected from how momentous the occasion was as it unfolded for hundreds of millions of people on Earth, watching it all on live television.

The famous trio of Aldrin, Collins and Armstrong in 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“I sometimes think the three of us missed ‘the big event’,” Aldrin said.

“While we were out there on the moon, the world was growing closer together, right here.”

The event gala was closed to the media but his comments have been revealed in a transcript from the event.

It was 50 years ago to the day on Tuesday that Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins were launched into space atop a Saturn 5 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.

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“We did not know the instant of leaving the ground. We only knew it from the instruments and voice communications which confirmed lift-off,” he recalled. “We sort of looked at each other and thought, ‘We must be on our way.’”

And he recalled the relief of the two astronauts was mutual once the Eagle had landed.

“Neil remembers we shook hands, and I recall putting my hand on his shoulder and we smiled,” Aldrin said. Hours later, Armstrong’s words upon becoming the first human to set foot on the moon — “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” — were immortalised. As Aldrin recalls, “Neil thought of that. It wasn’t on the checklist.”

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