No Dream Is Too High - Buzz Aldrin Page 0,32

the Moon.

Over the years of my life, I’ve been quite open about the failures I’ve endured. I find that many people can relate more to my mistakes than they can to my successes. In truth, they both go hand in hand; my failures have led to my successes, and some of my greatest achievements have set me up for my worst falls. But I’ve learned and I’ve grown from both kinds of experiences.

Some people don’t like to admit that they have failed or that they have not yet achieved their goals or lived up to their own expectations. But failure is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you are alive and growing.

Get out of your comfort zone and be willing to take some risks as you work on new tasks. Some individuals have an aversion to risks, but it is not foolish to accept a level of risk, as long as the magnitude and worthiness of the goal you are seeking to achieve is commensurate with your risk. As your comfort zone expands, seek out even greater challenges. It is often said, and it really is true: You can do almost anything if you put your mind to it.

KEEP IN MIND THAT progress is not always linear. It takes constant course correcting and often a lot of zigzagging. Unfortunate things happen, accidents occur, and setbacks are usually painful, but that does not mean we quit.

My two biggest regrets both involve matters that I wish I would have spoken up about more vociferously: a space walk and the space shuttle.

On Gemini 9, NASA had hoped to conduct an experiment using an untethered jet pack during a space walk. I really wanted to do that! Imagine floating around in space and navigating under your own power as you orbit the Earth at 17,000 miles an hour.

I’m not a big movie buff, although I enjoy movies when I have time to watch them. Of course, I enjoy science fiction and I especially love movies about space, even though some of the older movies get so many details wrong. But they were imaginative in their time, and helped inspire us to reach for the stars.

One of my early favorites was 2001: A Space Odyssey, a movie adapted from a story written by sci-fi master Arthur C. Clarke that came out in 1968, when I was training for the Apollo program. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I was really tired the evening I attended the premiere and I fell asleep during the movie, despite Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant production and amazing special effects. But it is still one of my favorites!

More recently, I really enjoyed Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Although the movie had some errors (my friend Neil deGrasse Tyson enjoys pointing them out) and bent the laws of physics during the free-falling interaction between the characters, it came close to depicting the reality and awkwardness of moving around in zero gravity. As someone who has actually “walked” in space, I cringed while watching emergencies on the screen that I had hoped would never happen. But for the person who has never experienced space travel, the movie’s portrayals are thrilling because it graphically shows the hazards and the dangers of space walks if things go wrong. When I came out of the movie theater, I said to myself and to others, “Sandra Bullock deserves an Oscar.”

Unfortunately, during Gemini 12, NASA considered the risks too great for me to do the Clooney-type space walk. I had trained underwater to get comfortable with neutral buoyancy, so I felt confident that I could carry out the difficult procedures required to be able to “free-maneuver” with only a jet pack outside the spacecraft.

But NASA greatly wanted to avoid any failures on the final Gemini mission, so they canceled the experiment. I was extremely disappointed when I received the news, so I objected and tried to convince my superiors that we could accomplish the jet pack space walk. They listened, but were entrenched in their position. No jet pack for me.

I did the space walk during Gemini 12, but I didn’t have a jet pack, and I remained tethered to the Gemini 12 spacecraft. Certainly, I was thrilled to have experienced the sensational space walk outside the capsule. Please don’t misunderstand: I’m grateful for all my experiences in space, but I will always regret not speaking up more strongly, and possibly having the opportunity to operate detached from the spacecraft, using the jet