Photo: #This interior view of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module shows Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot, during the lunar landing mission. This picture was taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong prior to the moon landing.
Photo: #The Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle lifts off with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., at 9:32 a.m. EDT July 16, 1969, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A.
Photo: #Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.
Photo: #One of the first steps taken on the Moon, this is an image of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Photo: #New York City welcomes the three Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, Jr., in a showering of ticker tape down Broadway and Park Avenue, in a parade termed at the time as the largest in the city's history.
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This interior view of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module shows Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot, during the lunar landing mission. This picture was taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong prior to the moon landing. (Photo Courtesy of NASA)
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Buzz Aldrin recalls his mission to the moon

by Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio
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Forty years ago today, NASA's Apollo 11 spacecraft launched, beginning Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historic mission to the moon.

Four days later, the lunar module reached its destination.

Most people who are old enough to remember what happened 40 years ago Monday, will recall being glued to one of the most amazing live TV broadcasts ever.

On July 20, 1969, the mission culminated with the steps of Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin, the first earthlings on the moon. Aldrin was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 11 mission. He was in the Twin Cities recently to promote his new memoir, "Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From the Moon."

MPR's Tom Crann had a chance to talk with the 79-year-old former astronaut. Aldrin's most vivid memory from the Apollo 11 mission isn't the time he spent bouncing on the moon's surface, but taking personal control of the lunar module, bringing the Eagle down for a safe landing.

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