Captain Jakub and Buzz Aldrin
in
The Presidential Inaugural Parade 2001

Dr. Buzz Aldrin, one of the most famous astronauts in the history of our space program, joined Captain Jakub in the Inaugural Parade.  

For those of you too young to remember, Apollo 11 was the first mission in which humans walked on the lunar surface and returned to Earth. On July 20, 1969 two astronauts (Apollo 11 Commander Neil A. Armstrong and LM pilot Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr.) landed in the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon in the Lunar Module while the Command and Service Module (with CM pilot Michael Collins) continued in lunar orbit. 

Upon landing and exiting the craft, Buzz and Neil became the first men to set foot on the moon.  "That's one small step for man . . . one giant leap for mankind."...  After Neil spoke those immortal words, he and Buzz proceeded to plant the American flag on the moon.

In Buzz's words, "We had some difficulty at first getting the pole of the flag to remain in the surface. In penetrating the surface, we found that most objects would go down about 5, maybe 6 inches, and then meet with gradual resistance. At the same time there was not much of a support force on either side, so we had to lean the flag back slightly in order for it to maintain this position. So many people have done so much to give us this opportunity to place this American flag on the surface. To me it was one of the prouder moments of my life, to be able to stand there and quickly salute the flag."

To read more about the Apollo 11 Mission and see more pictures of this historic event, go to: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ap11ann/introduction.htm
and
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo11info.html