Video of the Week

In the week that an incredible new piece of Buzz Aldrin memorabilia has emerged on the market - a flight coverall worn during his training for the Apollo 11 and Gemini 12 missions - here is an interview with the man himself.

In this rarely-seen interview for Australia's Channel 7, Buzz Aldrin talks about the significance of the first lunar landing and what he thought of the Moon's surface beneath its airless "black velvet sky".

Aldrin also sheds fascinating light on the contrast between his and Neil Armstrong's loneliness and isolation on the Moon's surface, and the widespread media attention being lavished on them back home.

On Earth, Armstrong and Aldrin's moonwalk was watched by 500m people on television - a far bigger audience than The Beatles could ever dream of (though, as a point of trivia, less than the 750m people who reportedly watched Charles and Diana's wedding).

This was something the astronauts found very amusing upon their safe return to Earth.

"I just couldn't resist tapping Neil [Armstrong] on the shoulder and saying, 'Hey Neil, look, we missed the whole thing!" jokes Buzz in the above video.

As the above interview shows, Aldrin remains one of the most outspoken and charismatic Apollo moonwalkers - a real character whose dedication to space exploration remains undiminished.

And, according to today's news reports, his character will next be tested not through exploring the Moon, but through Dancing With the Stars. Aldrin is reportedly taking part in the next series of the popular US TV dancing competition.

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