1980: BUZZ ALDRIN - After the MOON LANDING | Change of Direction | Classic Interviews | BBC Archive

Buzz Aldrin - the second person to walk on the moon - talks to Ludovic Kennedy about his career with Nasa, and his struggles with mental health following his return to Earth.

Clip taken from Change of Direction, originally broadcast 4 March, 1980.

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[DudeDew-pqst]

Such an amazing interview. Buzz answered every question with such thought and straight forwardness. I loved his answers to every question.

[cameronwilliams]

Now this is a brave man. Not only to have done all he has leading to this point, and very, very few people have, but to talk so candidly about his personal struggles. Boy could we use more men of his calibre today.

[kirk]

As someone who suffers from several mental disorders, i love how vulnerable Buzz Aldrin is as he speaks about this. Extremely classy, intelligent, and graceful! We love you Buzz!

[ECKohns]

Incredible man. And today, in 2024 he’s still kicking at age 94. Outliving fellow Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins.

[repboy]

What a great guy, part of history but taking freely about feelings, which is even more remarkable when this interview was filmed

[JoePCP]

What an eloquent and interesting man, I enjoyed his openness and such a frank interview. It's nice to know that he still survives to this day. God Bless you Buzz!

[zandvoort]

It really was an incredible experience! I also miss the old BBC too!

[grizzyb]

Always admired his bravery but him being so open in a time when it wasn’t as normal. He has gone up even more in my estimations. My opinion here doesn’t matter much but I’m sure he feels good about himself which is really what matters. To provide that insight at that time means he must have learned a lot I think. Legend

[stephendavies]

Buzz and all others associated with Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and all other NASA projects, were and still are amazing people.

[kepler]

6:09 He didn't blink for at least 17 seconds describing seeing the Earth from the moon. He's one cool cat and it's very entertaining listening to him talk.

[orangecrate]

What a great interview of a great man. His candor is admirable. I needed to hear that…

[mattwaters]

What a great interview! Thanks for posting this.

[kjeldpedersen]

Buzz seems very honest about his trouble with all the attention after the Moon Landing.
As he says, the crew were just the men who landed on the Moon because that was where the Apollo program was at that time. Some perfectly capable astronauts between others - it was just their turn.
And Aldrin is/ was a serious, hardworking dedicated engineer and test pilot.
Not hard to imagine how all the focus gave him trouble. He wasn’t a pop star seeking attention...

[mark.J]

What an incredible thing to watch, fantastic interview and so amazingly genuine.

[bez]

I've learned something from this interview. I was in the camp of thinking depression was something people experienced because they couldn't handle everyday life and they should "get a grip". How wrong was I. My bad

[smadaf]

Buzz Aldrin wrote a worthy book about the experiences that he describes in this interview: _Return to Earth_ (1973).

[sirfer]

So well spoken, by both Mr Aldrin and the interviewer

[Sentrme]

Amazing interview! Learned the hard way about imposter syndrome and depression similar myself.

Thank you Buzz for reminding us that we are all just human! And deeply sorry for the unnecessary spotlight on you and wife.

[billthomas]

Very brave, humble and intelligent man. It took some real guts to be as open as he was considering the times.

[Supernabo]

Qué maravilla de entrevista y de ser humano. Un verdadero héroe.