Talk:Buzz Aldrin

Replace citation

Citation no. 122, to a paragraph long vignette in "The Week", adds nothing, and poorly supports only a couple of the many facts in this paragraph. Moreover, its presence gives the false sense of fully adequate sourcing of the paragraph. This citation should be removed, as it was in the Sibrel article, and other citations there, notably, one from the St. Petersburg Times (and perhaps others there) should be used here in support of specific statements and facts in the paragraph. (If we did not have the "one source" guideline, having the bulk of this paragraph from a single source would be fine. But more is better, here, as long as more is not cursory and superficial, as in the case of citation no. 122.)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 October 2019

Please see the following item in the "Potrayal by others" section:

• The name of the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear was inspired by Buzz Aldrin."

There are two problems with this item. The source doesn't say that the Lightyear character was "inspired by" Aldrin; it says the name is "in honor of" Aldrin. There's a big difference. This is not a "portrayal" of Aldrin. It's homage to Aldrin. If I was Aldrin I would be insulted that the article suggests that Buzz Lightyear is "portraying" Aldrin. For that reason the item needs to be reworded as follows:

"The name of the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear was named in honor of Buzz Aldrin."

And since it is not a portrayal it needs to be moved to a different section, preferably to a separate section under "In the media". 75.191.40.148 (talk) 00:56, 30 October 2019 (UTC)

References

Done I think you make good points. JustinTime55 (talk) 00:58, 30 October 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 December 2019

Please add information about Buzz Aldrins heritage:

”Aldrins paternal grandparents, Karl Johan Aldrin and Anna Nilsdotter, were Swedish immigrants who left Sweden with their children in 1892 and settled in Worcester i Massachusetts where Aldrin’s grandfather worked as a smith.”

Sources:

https://gw.geneanet.org/abrogren?full=on&image=on&lang=en&m=A&marriage=on&n=aldrin&notes=on&nz=brogren&p=edwin+eugene+buzz&pz=carl+magnus+elias&siblings=on&t=T&v=6

http://www.hhogman.se/well-known-swedish-americans.htm 84.55.87.146 (talk) 21:33, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Needs reliable sources. The first one is user-generated and the second is self-published. – Thjarkur (talk) 21:37, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Engineer as profession in lead sentence

I just read through the article, and it seems that Aldrin only worked very briefly as an engineer. He joined Lockheed Aircraft Corporation after graduating with a PhD in 1963, but then become an astronaut later that same year. Hence, I think it's a bit misleading to label him as an engineer, especially since being an engineer is not why he is notable. I propose changing the lead to:

Buzz Aldrin (/ˈɔːldrɪn/; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American astronaut and former fighter pilot. Originally trained as an engineer, he joined NASA's Project Gemini, and made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. Aldrin was the Apollo Lunar Module pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, and he and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first two humans to land on the Moon.

LK (talk) 07:19, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

First two humans?

Armstrong and Aldrin the first humans..... ? What, as opposed to the first donkeys! The word 'human' is only of use when compared to other members of the animal kingdom. For heavens sake! Say it as it is. They were the first MEN … Or is it the case that if and when a woman sets foot on the Moon there will be no reference to the fact of her sex? She will just be another 'human' on the Moon? I somehow doubt it. 31.52.163.22 (talk) 10:01, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

As opposed to robots. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 10:38, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

First person to hold a religious ceremony on the Moon

Since he was one of the first two people on the Moon, wasn't everything he did on the Moon the first time a person had done it on the Moon? The first steps, the first breath, the first words, etc. The lead should probably explain the relevance or leave it out. Surtsicna (talk) 12:59, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

Lured to the motel?

The Bart Sibrel incident section implies that the conspracy theorist "lured [Aldrin] to a Beverly Hills hotel on the pretext of being interviewed for a Japanese children's television show on the subject of space". However, Sibrel and Aldrin have both disputed this. Sibrel always stated in interviews that Aldrin had indeed given an interview to a Japanese production company before his fateful encounter. His story is backed by Aldrin.

In his Magnificent Desolation book, Aldrin specifically states: "One September morning in 2002, I was in Beverly Hills at the Luxe Hotel, filming a television interview for a Far Eastern TV network, when the interview began going in a direction that I knew was out of bounds. At first I tried to be cordial, adroitly answering the question, assuming that the interviewer would recognize my reluctance to talk about inanity, and bring the focus back to a bona fide space subject. Instead the interviewer began playing a television segment that had aired in the United States on the subject of hoaxes, including a section suggesting that the Apollo 11 moon landing never happened. I was aware of the piece and had been livid when it originally aired. I did not appreciate the interviewer's attempts to lure me into commenting on it. Lisa had accompanied me to the interview following her early morning triathlon training in the Santa Monica Bay, and she immediately recognized that this was a flagrant violation of our willingness to conduct the interview in good faith, so she called a halt to the production. We weren't belligerent, but we did not longer long over our good-byes, either. [...] As we stepped out into the hotel foyer, a large man who looked to be in his mid-thirties approached me, attempting to engage me in conversation. "Hey, Buzz, how are you?" He had his own film crew along, with the camera already rolling to document the encounter. I greeted him briefly, acknowledging his presence and kept moving-standard procedure for life in Hollywood. As Lisa and I walked through the foyer toward the front door of the hotel, however, the man kept getting in my way, peppering me with questions, none of which I answered. [...] the "interviewer" had taken out a very large Bible and was shaking it in my face, his voice becoming more animated. "Will you swear on this Bible that you really walked on the Moon?"" (Emphasis added)

He never mentions the man with the bible by name, but I doubt we need to second guess who he's talking about. Should this section not be updated in light of this information to remove any potentially libelous statements?