Aldrin Apollo 11 cropped.jpg
*
Short description: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the
moon *
Full description: Astronaut
Buzz Aldrin,
lunar module pilot, stands on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module,
Eagle, during the Apollo 11
moonwalk. Astronaut
Neil Armstrong,
mission commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the
lunar module to explore the
Sea of Tranquility, astronaut
Michael Collins,
command module pilot, remained in lunar orbit with the
Command and Service Module,
Columbia. *This is the actual photograph as exposed on the moon by Armstrong. He held the camera slightly rotated so that the camera frame did not include the top of Aldrin's
portable life support system ("backpack"). A communications antenna mounted on top of the backpack is also cut off in this picture. When the image was released to the public, it was rotated clockwise to restore the astronaut to vertical for a more harmonious composition, and a black area was added above his head to recreate the missing black lunar "sky". The edited version is the one most commonly reproduced and known to the public, but the original version, above, is the authentic exposure. A full explanation with illustrations can be seen at the
Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.