Page 20 - Aerotech News and Review, July 19, 2019

AF service prepared Buzz Aldrin for Moon landing
by David Vergun
DOD News
He stepped off the lunar module onto the lunar surface after mission commander Neil Armstrong. They spent 21 hours on the Moon’s surface and collected 46 pounds of Moon rocks.
Aldrin’s first mission in space was in 1966 aboard Gemini 12. The Earth- orbit mission included extravehicular activity and a rendezvous and docking maneuver that paved the way for the Apollo program.
Aldrin’s military career started in the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., in 1947. The Air Force, which became a separate branch of the military that year, didn’t yet have a service academy. Graduates at the time could choose to be in the Army or the Air Force if they graduated near the top of their class. Aldrin graduated third of 475 and chose the Air Force.
In December 1952, Aldrin was as- signed to the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Suwon Air Base, south of Seoul, South Korea, during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat mis- sions in F-86 Sabres and shot down
Air Force photograph
Air Force instructor pilot Buzz Aldrin poses for a photo in the cockpit of a T-33A Shooting Star at Bryan Air Force Base, Texas, Dec. 31, 1953.
NASA photograph
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the Moon, July 20, 1969.
two MiG-15 aircraft.
“The Korean War was the crucible
that shaped many of the Apollo as- tronauts,” Aldrin wrote in his book, “Men From Earth.” Armstrong was also a fighter pilot flying combat mis- sions during the Korean War.
“Combat flying requires an inten-
sity and skill far beyond anything in peacetime aviation,” Aldrin wrote. “Years later, those of us who’d served in Korea were prepared for the haz- ards and uncertainty of spaceflight be- cause we had already come to terms with fear.”
During his Air Force career, he also
served as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
From 1956 to 1959, he flew nucle- ar-capable F-100 Super Sabre jets as a flight commander in the 36th Fighter Wing’s 22nd Fighter Squadron, sta- tioned at Bitburg Air Base, West Ger- many. The Air Force let Aldrin get his doctoral degree in astronautics from
the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology in 1959.
After leaving NASA in 1971, he became commandant of the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1972. He lives in Southern California.
Armstrong FRC celebrates Apollo 50th anniversary
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California recently partnered with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Ante- lope Valley chapter, to host an Apollo 50th anni- versary event called Small Steps to Giant Leaps.
The event honored the historic moment when mankind first landed on the Moon and looked ahead to NASA’s future of space exploration with the Artemis program.
The science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) focused family event featured Apollo- Soyuz astronaut Vance Brand, who was the key- note speaker. Brand also commanded three space shuttle missions, logged 746 hours in space and more than 9,669 hours as a pilot. He was part of the crew on four space missions; Apollo-Soyuz, Space Transportation System (STS)-5, STS 41-B and STS-35.
Brand shared a special presentation on his Apollo-Soyuz space exploration mission and how NASA is creating a new era of exploration by sending humans back to the Moon by 2024.
The Artemis program is leading this effort with innovative new technologies and systems to ex- plore the lunar surface. NASA will send the first woman and the next man to the Moon with the goal of sending astronauts to Mars.
Larry Cliatt, a NASA engineer presented a talk on sonic booms, a very loud sound people currently hear on the ground when an aircraft is flying supersonically. His presentation focused on the quiet supersonic technology that NASA and Lockheed Martin are developing as part of the X-59 experimental airplane.
Attendees also were able to learn more about Armstrong’s current projects through STEM dis- plays and activities that aimed to encourage the next generation of explorers into those job fields.
Displays included lunar sample exhibit, an X-59 low-boom flight interactive demonstration, a space glove and helmet interactive exhibit, LED paper light up circuits, and local FIRST Robotics Competition team demonstrations to name a few.
Apollo-Soyuz Astronaut Vance Brand speaks
about his experience as an astronaut and working for NASA at the NASA Armstrong Apollo 50th Anniversary event.
NASA photographa by Ken Ulbrich
Apollo-Soyuz Astronaut Vance Brand speaks one-on-one with attendees at NASA Armstrong’s Apollo 50th Anniversary Event.
A NASA admirer poses for the camera wearing an astronaut helmet.
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