- Buzz Aldrin was one of two astronauts to walk on the moon for the first time on July 20, 1969.
- On the eve of the Apollo 11 mission’s 50th anniversary, Aldrin spoke to Omega, which supplied the watch he wore on the lunar mission.
- Aldrin recounted the moments that he thinks defined the historic NASA mission during an exclusive interview.
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It’s been half a century since Buzz Aldrin rocketed to the moon and walked upon its dusty, pockmarked surface, but his memory of that historic event is still as fresh as ever.
On July 16, 1969, Aldrin was just 39 years old when he boarded a small capsule atop a 363-foot-tall (111-meter-tall) Saturn V rocket and launched toward the moon. About four days later, on July 20, Aldrin and his commander, Neil Armstrong, climbed into a lunar lander. The two left fellow astronaut Mike Collins behind in the capsule, descended toward the lunar surface, and stepped outside.
In remembrance of NASA’s historic feat on the eve of its 50th anniversary, watch brand Omega – which made the Speedmaster timepieces astronauts wore on the moon – spoke to Aldrin about his experiences.
Below are excerpts from Omega’s exclusive interview with the moon walker and the moments he said defined Apollo 11.
"We had all seen preparations for a launch go down to seconds, then have to start over. And so I think we were relieved when the launch went ahead."
"It went smoothly, and at last we were on our way."
"Nothing unexpected happened. We knew we were accelerating, but the launch was so smooth compared to Gemini launches that we did not know the instant of leaving the ground."
After a days-long journey to the moon, Aldrin and Armstrong descended to the lunar surface in the "Eagle" lunar module.
"I guess we were not the only ones on the edge of our seat … from what I hear, folks at Mission Control were, too."
"As we approached the moon, we leveled off and kept moving down and forward to land."
"We knew we were continuing to burn fuel. We knew what we had, then we heard 30 seconds left. If we ran out of fuel, we knew it would be a hard landing."
"I saw dust creating a haze, not particles but a haze that went out, dust the engine was picking up. The light turns on, I said 'contact light,' 'engine stop' and recorded '413' in, so mission control knew abort guidance shut-down conditions were satisfied."