Daniel Cann

The Long Journey Home From The Moon

Buzz Aldrin with Ken Abraham

Published 2009 by Bloomsbury

On 20th July 1969 man walked on the moon for the first time. Unless you are one of a growing number of conspiracy theorist’s that claim the whole thing was staged and actually the closest we got to the moon was an aircraft hanger in Area 51 this book should interest you. Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin was one of three of the US astronauts on that first historic trip to our nearest celestial neighbour. The ‘Magnificent Desolation’ of the books title is how Aldrin described the moon as he stood on it over forty years ago. It could he argues, also be an apt description of the turn his life took in the years succeeding that historic mission.

If you are interested only in a description and straight account of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon then the first 59 pages of this (hardback) edition should be enough to sate your appetite and curiosity. In a rather sanitised and matter of fact way Aldrin shares his experiences and feelings of being the second man on the moon. There are moments of tension and high drama and I enjoyed reading about it nonetheless. The sceptics will probably scoff at some of the claims made here, particularly the dangers and literally making it by the seat of their pants. Surely many will claim that NASA would not take such unacceptable risks. For all the recent controversy this is what Aldrin is famous for.

What I enjoyed more and found more intriguing was the return journey and its psychological effects on such a high achiever and goal-orientated US Air Force career man like Aldrin. Like he said, how could anything else possibly match the thrill of going into space and walking on the moon? How do you follow that up?

The book follows Aldrin’s descent into depression and alcoholism as his sense of purpose nose-dives. It was fascinating to read how he felt about touring the World meeting dignitaries describing the moon mission, all the while feeling like NASA and the US Government were using him. His marriage suffered, as did his career with the US Air Force. Within the space of a few short years he was reduced to an alcoholic car salesman just about scratching a living.

Aldrin is an excellent example of a hero with ‘feet of clay.’ He is brutally honest about his shortcomings and has struggled with the twin demons of alcoholism and depression. He admits to having a strict disciplinarian father who insisted on nothing less than the best at all times. His mother was also an alcoholic and tragically committed suicide just before his mission to the moon. The more human aspect of this book is what really drives it and made it interesting for me.

I did find that towards the second half it got flabby in places and it did have a tendency to devote too much time on travel and public appearances as well as name-dropping. Where it shines is when it covers Aldrin’s interests in deep sea diving, space exploration and space tourism. He is a fascinating individual who has led an incident packed life to say the least. This is good in places, tackling difficult subjects with candour, but it is somewhat let down by losing its way a little later on. For all that it should appeal to space enthusiasts and even those with only a casual interest in the subject.