While he may have missed out on the giant leap for mankind Buzz Aldrin enjoyed a giant splash in Cayman when he visited the islands and enjoyed a spot of diving. The famous former astronaut, who was second man on the moon after Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 voyage in 1969, was here on behalf of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation which provides college scholarships to top science and engineering students across the USA. The foundation had approached members of Cayman’s Dive community for support for its fundraising efforts with complimentary dives, which could be auctioned to raise money for the scholarship programme.
While he was in Cayman with his wife Lois, the 80 year old Aldrin did four dives and visited Stingray City. The couple attended a cocktail party on the Friday evening hosted by members of the toursim industry along with the Department and Ministry of Tourism, where he met with government officials as well as the local sp0nsors who are donating to the scholarship foundation.
Although Aldrin has his share of problems when he retired from NASA, unlike his reclusive lunar colleague Armstrong, Aldrin has been a more visible face of the aeronautical industry. He has continued to promote space exploration, including producing a computer strategy game called Buzz Aldrin’s Race Into Space (1993).
On the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing, he teamed up with Snoop Dogg and Quincy Jones to create a rap single. Over the years he has made a number of cameo appearances on TV programmes, including the Simpsons. More recently he was a contestant on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
(source: Cayman News Service.com)
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