Buzz Aldrin is a retired astronaut who was the second person in history to set foot on the surface of the moon, and one of only twelve individuals to ever set foot on the moon.

On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 2009, Aldrin reflected on his journey to the moon and suggested that NASA should "put people in a gradual permanence on Mars by 2031."http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533785,00.html?test=latestnews

On March 1, 2010, Aldrin was one of 11 contestants announced for the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars.http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/WinterConcert/dancing-stars-season-10-cast-kate-gosselin-bachelor/story?id=9983761&page=3

Born in New Jersey in 1930, Aldrin's father was an aviation pioneer who studied under rocketeer Robert Goddard. After graduating from West Point, Aldrin attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a doctorate in Astronautics. In 1963, Aldrin was chosen to be part of the astronaut team, and he made his first spaceflight aboard Gemini 9A in 1966. Aldrin was chosen for the Apollo 11 mission along with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, and Aldrin became the second person to walk on the moon, on July 20, 1969. Upon returning from the moon, Aldrin was counseled for depression, and wrote a book about his experiences entitled Return to Earth. Aldrin continues to be an active advocate for manned spaceflight.

• Born: January 20, 1930

• 1951: Received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the United States Military Academy in West Point

• 1951-1953: Flew sixty-six combat missions in Korea

• 1963: Received a doctorate in astronautics from MIT

• 1963: Joined the NASA astronaut program

• November 1966: Piloted Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission

• July 20, 1969: Piloted the lunar landing module of Apollo 11, becames the second man to walk on the moon

• 1969: Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom

• 1971: Retired from NASA and became commander of the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California

• 1972: Retired from the United States Air Force

• 1973: Published Return to Earth

• 1989: Published Men from Earth to mark 20th anniversary of the first lunar landing

• 2000: Published The Return

• 2002: Appointed by Bush administration to serve on commission on future of U.S. aerospace industry

• 2005: Release of first children’s book, Reaching for the Moon

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