Buzz Aldrin tweets about how the iconic image of him on the moon was taken
Buzz "second man on the moon" Aldrin is back to his legendary form after pulling a mystified face at Donald Trump's weird speech about space.
On the 48th anniversary of the moon landing, Aldrin recounted the story on Twitter behind one of the most iconic pictures of the 20th century.
After Neil Armstrong and Aldrin descended from the Apollo 11 capsule to become the first humans to ever walk on the moon, the former took a snap of Aldrin on the Sea of Tranquillity.
"When Neil took this pic of me it was very spontaneous. He said 'stop right there' & I turned. You can see the motion of the strap #Apollo11," Aldrin said.
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While it was Armstrong who became the first man on the moon, Aldrin "earned a different kind of immortality" with that image, according to Time magazine:
"Since it was Armstrong who was carrying the crew’s 70-millimeter Hasselblad, he took all of the pictures—meaning the only moon man earthlings would see clearly would be the one who took the second steps."
"That this image endured the way it has was not likely. It has none of the action of the shots of Aldrin climbing down the ladder of the lunar module, none of the patriotic resonance of his saluting the American flag."
"He’s just standing in place, a small, fragile man on a distant world—a world that would be happy to kill him if he removed so much as a single article of his exceedingly complex clothing."
"His arm is bent awkwardly—perhaps, he has speculated, because he was glancing at the checklist on his wrist."
"And Armstrong, looking even smaller and more spectral, is reflected in his visor. It’s a picture that in some ways did everything wrong if it was striving for heroism. As a result, it did everything right."
People commented to the tweet by sharing their memories of that fateful night:
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