andipantz

July 20 marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission when the United States first set foot on the moon.

If you know me well enough, you’d know that I’m a huge space geek.  I always have been since I was about 8 or 9 years old.  For all of my childhood, I was convinced that I would join the US Air Force and then become an astronaut.  I even went to Space Camp.  It’s true!  In fact, this Sunday marks my 20th anniversary of going there!  I could have told you the name of every fighter jet from a single glimpse, the names of the astronauts and what mission they were on, and every little detail about space and space history.  (Please don’t ask me now, that was way too long ago! :P)  So what happened?  Well, when I was about 17 or 18, I came to the realization that my eye sight wasn’t good enough and the space program seemed to be on a decline with little advancement on manned missions.  (And coincidentally there hasn’t been any progress with putting man into space for over 20 years now)  Maybe just every kid wants to be an astronaut when they grow up.

With the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin released a new book called Magnificent Desolation, the words that he used to describe the moon when he set foot upon it in 1969.  The Free Library of Philadelphia often has authors come to give a talk and have a book signing and wouldn’t you know that Buzz Aldrin was one of them!  Buzz Aldrin was one of my idols when I was growing up because he made so many marks in history when he was a pilot and an astronaut and still continued to help with the advancement of space technology after his glory days.  The talk was pretty good…and funny.  I got to meet Mr. Aldrin afterward and have him sign my book.  Buzz Aldrin is the second astronaut that I’ve met who has been to the moon. The first was Charlie Duke who was the tenth man to walk on the moon during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Anyway, it was a pretty good night for this geek girl.