The main objective of the revised mission ( Gemini 9A) was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle. However, that prerequisite was lifted when Aldrin re-applied, and he was accepted into the third group of astronauts in October of 1963.Īldrin was initially selected to participate in the Gemini program, and after the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew (Elliot See and Charles Bassett) Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to backup crew for the mission. Initially, his application was rejected since he had never been a test pilot. In 1963, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles, and began to pursue a career in space exploration. Credit: Īfter completing his military service, Aldrin returned to MIT to receive his Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics. During the Korean War, he served as a jet fighter pilot, flying 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shooting down two MiG-15 aircraft.Īfter the war, he was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada before becoming a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base in West Germany, where he flew F-100 Super Sabres with the 22nd Fighter Squadron.īuzz Aldrin in the cockpit of an F-86 Sabre while serving as part of the 16th FS, 51st FW, in Korea, 1953.
Upon graduating in 1951 from West Point with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Aldrin was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He would later enroll at MIT to complete his studies, but not before going off to war. As such, he turned down a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and instead enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. After graduating from high school, Aldrin wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
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