No Dream Is Too High - Buzz Aldrin Page 0,29
my pictures because I thought he might be upset at me for getting so close to the huge endangered fish.
Brad loved the photo! “We don’t encourage the public to get near a whale shark, but I do it all the time, Buzz,” he said, “because I have to tag them.” Brad uses NASA star-tracking technology to track the whale sharks around the world, and to study their movements. I was especially honored when Brad named a whale shark “Apollo” in my honor. I have enjoyed making the world more aware of this beautiful fish. When I tell this story in schools, I’m careful to include the caution, “Kids, don’t try this at home!”
ALWAYS KEEP SOME NEW, exciting adventure on your “bucket list,” that list of things you want to do before you die. Maybe you’ll want to swim with the sharks, too. One thing I still want to do is to go to the South Pole. I’ve been to the North Pole, but never to Antarctica. Another experience I still want to have is an underwater diving adventure with some crocodiles.
Really!
My son Andy has embraced my penchant for exploration and adventure. He is brilliant, much smarter than I am, and has a PhD from UCLA. He wrote the foreword to my book Mission to Mars. As a father, I could not possibly be more proud of him. In recent years, Andy has become more involved in trying to help bring my scientific concepts to fruition. It means a great deal to me that Andy has chosen to carry on my work. Although I am proud of all my children, Andy is more similar to me, in that he is always up for almost anything I’m willing to try.
For instance, not long ago, Andy found a place in Africa where we could do a diving expedition with crocodiles. We seriously considered doing it, but after thinking through the risks, we decided to put that trip on hold.
I still have an adventurous spirit, but at my age, sometimes I also have to be sensible. After all, crocodiles are pretty fast, and I wondered if I could outrun a croc on land. I felt confident that I could probably outswim a crocodile in my scuba gear underwater, but if it caught up to me and I had to make a hasty exit on land, wearing flippers on my feet, a wet suit, and a heavy air tank on my back, I’m not so sure I could outdistance it. I decided I didn’t want to lose a hand! As a result, Andy and I chose to forgo that trip—for now—but we haven’t given up on it.
Really!
You don’t have to do some of the more outlandish things that I do to enjoy an adventurous spirit, but you do need to stay active. Ideally, you should find some activity that you can do year-round. Staying active and maintaining a sense of adventure are important for anyone, but are especially essential as we get a little older.
People often ask me how I stay in such good physical shape. “I walk fast through airports,” I tell them. When it comes to exercise, I subscribe to the Neil Armstrong philosophy. At least half seriously, Neil always said, “God only gave me so many heartbeats; I’m not going to waste any of them on physical exercise!”
Truth is, I keep moving and I stay active, and until I take my last breath, I want to maintain my fascination with life and my sense of adventure. With that attitude, I might just live forever!
My handsome family. Top, left to right: A young man named Buzz; my mother, Marion; my father, Edwin, Sr. Bottom: My sisters, Maddy and Fay Ann.
We have spent summers at the New Jersey shore my whole life. I still go there to see my extended family to this day. This photo was probably taken in 1934.
I’ve always been curious about how things work. Even as a young boy—here I am at six years old—I loved to explore and was always looking for a new adventure.
Strong women helped shape me, especially my mother (in the middle) and my two sisters, Maddy and Fay Ann.
I was only 17 years old when I was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point. Here I am, a young plebe, proudly wearing my uniform.
In the dedication of my MIT doctoral thesis, written in 1963, I expressed a hope that my work could help in the future of the space program. My dreams