Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Again Visits Namesake Elementary School in Reston

by Dave Emke — May 18, 2017 at 1:30 pm 1 Comment

I really enjoyed spending time on #Mars yesterday with the kids from @AldrinEagles I was a kid once too! Still am. Gotta show off our socks! pic.twitter.com/0J313dksU8

— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) May 12, 2017

Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon in July 1969.

Now, 48 years later, he again has walked the halls of a school bearing his name in Reston.

The 87-year-old visited Buzz Aldrin Elementary School last week while he was in the area to attend the annual Humans to Mars Summit. At the school, Aldrin presented for students his thoughts and hopes for future travel to the Red Planet. He also gave them a large map of the planet.

Aldrin last visited the school for its 20th anniversary in 2015. In the school’s early years, he visited each year. He now comes more sporadically, maybe every two or three years, school representative Lesley Aschenbach said.

“Hopefully, kids get to see him twice in their career here,” she said.

After the recent presentation, Aldrin gathered on the Mars map with representatives from each grade level while a videographer recorded testimonials from the students on their thoughts about space exploration and what travel to Mars would mean for mankind. The students’ discussion will be used as part of an emerging program for Aldrin’s ShareSpace Foundation.

In addition, Aldrin Elementary School STEAM resource teacher Jackie Wheeler, school-based technology specialist Eve Davies and Principal Shane Wolfe printed a special bracelet for Aldrin on a 3D printer during his visit.

I visited my namesake school in Reston, VA today and brought my son Andy along to help me inspire these #GenerationMars kids! pic.twitter.com/8rM4KycHdh

— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) May 11, 2017

mike1818

Wow, it’s so great to see one of the first moon walkers on the planet repeatedly come to visit the students at his namesake Aldrin Elementary School right here in Reston. Aldrin and his space partner Neil Armstrong on that historic 1969 first trip to the moon will forever inspire students young and old. While it was not Armstrong’s nature to make such visits, now that he is deceased, even the possibility is gone. I wonder whether Aldrin would consider it not inappropriate to stand in for him with a visit just down the road to Armstrong Elementary School where my son David attended. With the passage of time Armstrong would likely look kindly on such a visit and it would surely be viewed with good sentiment far and wide. Indeed, the students at Armstrong and the community would be inspired, excited and surely in celebratory spirit for the remarkable achievement of Aldrin and Armstrong. Please consider it, Buzz. Neil would approve. Best regards, Mike Selnick, P.E. 5-18-17

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