WEBVTT - Chapter 10 – Buzz Aldrin: Beyond the Moon 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.600 Buzz, an audio drama for iHeart Podcasts starring John Lithgow 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:07.920 and Jeffrey Arrand as buzz Aldron. This series is based 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:12.400 on real events, However, certain characters, names, incidents, locations, and 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.000 dialog have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes. 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:16.640 Chapter ten. 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:22.920 This is Walter Cronkite at Cape Kennedy. Neil Armstrong and 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:26.000 buzz Aldrin have lifted off the Moon in the lunar 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:30.080 module Eagle, and all is moving smoothly as they're about 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.960 to dock with the command module Columbia for the return 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.920 trip to Earth. Their rendezvous. In lunar orbit, some nine 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:42.960 miles above the Moon. Traveling at fifty five hundred feet 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:47.879 per second, Eagle will navigate to Columbia through deep space 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:55.320 using a computerized gyroscope comprised of rotating rings called gimbals. 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.120 Houston, any change in gimbal lock. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:00.840 A negative Eagle. 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:06.080 Oh, this is flight. You've only got fuel and oxygen 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.920 for one shot at manual docking. If you don't make it, 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:12.160 he'll be unable to recapture. 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.119 Don't sugarcoated, Houston. Give it to me straight. 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:18.320 We're the three Musketeers boys. 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:20.680 I'm not going home. Without porthos and aramis. 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:26.000 I wrote my doctoral thesis on orbital rendezvous procedures to 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:32.360 address this exact contingency, human skill succeeding when technology falls short. 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:37.240 Did my confidence border on arrogance? No, it crossed that 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:41.880 border years before. I also knew that if I failed, 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.400 Mike would return to Earth alone. An Eagle might circle 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:49.880 the Moon forever, spending eternity with Neil Armstrong in an 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:54.520 orbiting mausoleum was not why I joined the space program. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.920 Houston, ready to begin manual docking procedure. I'll rotate by 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:03.160 sight and get into position. Mike, Translate forward for capture. 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:06.600 Translating forward, Eagle. 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:09.720 We're thrusting to get closer to you. 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:12.320 Roger. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.800 That burn complete, read burn complete. 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.520 I'm not going to do a thing, Mike. I'm leaving 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:22.440 her an attitude holder. 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:33.480 Okay, moving forward, Eagle approaching lights aligning for dockage. Thrusters firing. 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:41.160 You, okay, Mike, Roger, Eagles getting closer, slow and steady. 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:47.079 Buzz, Roger docking lights no longer in alignment. We need 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:51.799 to fire thrusters again, Houston, how are we on fuel? 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:52.600 Remaining? 0:02:54.560 --> 0:03:00.400 Roger docking lights realigning. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:06.400 If you're getting closer both twenty seconds of fuel remaining. 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:08.160 Eagle Roger. 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:20.679 Here within reach. Eagle fifteen seconds closer, ten seconds Eagle. 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:29.440 Roger connection made. The Eagle and Columbia are in hard. 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:35.680 Dock safety thrusts B three and C four Roger, Eagle. 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.160 Nothing like going down to the wire. Columbia. Are you 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:40.320 pumping cabin pressure? 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:41.720 Roger Houston. 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:44.800 Lunar module hatch has passed its integrity check. 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.400 I'm gonna go ahead with a tunnel leak check. 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:52.160 Roger, Columbia. Cabin pressure pumping and looking good. 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.440 Moving through the lunar module tunnel into Columbia. 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:56.760 Now, I left the light on for you. 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.240 Neil and I shared a harden with Mike, who said 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.440 he used my absence to his culinary advantage. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.280 If you think there's any shrimp cocktail left, forget it. 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:23.400 We laughed, but there were tears in his eyes. I'm 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:27.560 Buzz Aldron, and this is the story you think you know, 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:29.720 but you don't. 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:35.240 Ignition frequent far five four. 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:43.800 Nonna with a gay babe here the angle planted a 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:49.159 one Paul tramp for man one diam. 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.400 You're listening to Buzz. This is the story of my 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.520 greatest achievement Chapter ten. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:17.520 Like how does it feel to have company again? 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.480 Damn good, I'll tell you it'd be nice to have 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.120 a couple million Americans. 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:25.039 Up here, Roger, they're with you in spirits. 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.279 Neil and Buzz look like a couple of chimney sweeps, 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:30.800 and the lunar dirts like the finest sand I ever 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.680 saw gets on everything. Well, it's not getting on my 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:35.960 instrument panel. Lose the boots and helmets. 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.000 Let's take care of it. Is it. 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.080 Clean up the cockpit so there's room for all our trash. 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.919 We've only got room for the moon rocks, soil samples, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:48.400 and film canisters. Everything else gets left an Eagle. Advisors, overshoes, gloves, 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:49.800 everything dirty. 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:53.640 That's a lot of history you were leaving behind. 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.559 Not to mention stuff that would have brought a fortunate auction. 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.760 We jammed all of it into Eagle and prepared ourselves 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.400 to say goodbye to the craft that kept us safe 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:05.719 and got us home. 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.159 Prepared a jedtison Eagle in Program forty seven, a station 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.080 keep before maneuvering for transfer of. 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.000 Injection over sending by for pyro arm. 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.120 Here, go for pyro arm and go for Eagle. 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:28.000 Jedtison Mike pushed a button eagle detached from Columbia. She 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.520 may have crashed into the lunar surface as we might have, 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.600 or fifty five years later she could still be in orbit. 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:36.720 No one knows. 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:43.760 Neil and I watched her drift away. She was a 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.960 good ship for Neil. That was the equivalent of an 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:49.200 emotional orgasm. 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:54.680 You okay, why you're looking at me? 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:55.119 Funny? 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:58.919 It did a hell of a job, but. 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:01.640 I owe you my life. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:11.320 That's when tears came to my eyes. As the moon 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:15.400 faded from view, so did the euphoria of what we'd accomplished. 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.240 I thought of doctor Ludwig, who had wanted to ground me. 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:23.000 She said it'd be bad for me if Apollo leven failed, 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:28.200 but if it succeeded, it'd be worse. What does an 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:33.280 explorer do when there are no great unknowns left? In 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.360 my case, he moves his wife and family to California. 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:42.800 He drinks, so does she. He gets divorced twice, and 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.000 after eight years he's working at a Cadillac dealership in 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:46.840 West la. 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:59.280 This is a seventy seven Coupe Deville, mister Ennis. It's beautiful, beautiful, 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.560 top of the line straight from the factory. I'm throwing 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:08.320 in an end of the month discount, extended warranty, spoke wheels, 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.760 an autograph picture of myself that's bound to become a 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:14.160 collector's item. I mean, what the hell else can I do? 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:18.800 I don't like to be rushed. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:20.120 Rushed. 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.520 If we go any's slower, bud. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.040 The car will be used. 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:26.880 Well, I don't like your attitude. 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:28.360 You don't like my attitude. 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:30.840 I'm Jack Murphy, general manager. 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:31.800 What seems to be the problem. 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.280 So this guy's been nickel and diming me for the 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:35.480 past three hours. 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:37.679 He expects me to roll over just because he was 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.240 an astronaut. Well, there are other dealerships in town. 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.920 If I make the deal he wants, it'll be below 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:43.320 our cost. 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:43.559 You know what. 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:45.839 Tell this bozo to walks bus take it. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:46.480 That's it. 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.120 Someone else. Help you step into my office and I'll 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:53.679 take care of it. 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:00.200 God damn it us. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.400 We're in business to do business, so I don't have 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.240 to kiss the customers at Yes, you do, you do, 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:16.200 but from now on, do it somewhere else. You're saying, 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:17.520 pack your stuff. That's it. 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:20.760 You're firing buzz Aldron. 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:23.840 I'm firing a guy who should be the leading producer 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.760 in the dealership. You've been here six months. You haven't 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.800 sold a goddamn car. For Christ's sake, Buzz, you were famous, 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:36.640 famous as anyone ever one giant step for man. I mean, 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.720 I watched you on the moon putting up the flag. 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.360 You were a hero. What happened? 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:45.800 They came back. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.360 The good thing about not selling cars is you don't 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.920 miss it. By then, I was drinking at a joint 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:02.160 in Silver Leg where I'm like, nobody knew my name, 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:05.959 but I noticed a woman staring at me from the 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:09.840 other side of the bar. I knew the look. She smiled. 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:13.720 Instead of smiling back, I went into the men's room 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.600 and called Joan for old times. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:30.319 Sake, Hello, Hello, Hey, are you up? 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:32.640 Does it sound like I'm up? 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:36.680 You by yourself? 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:40.360 Oh? Come on, it's twenty to two bus. 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:42.560 Yeah. But are you by yourself? 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:43.000 Oh? 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.160 Yeah, you're lucky that Dodgs just left. 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:47.520 I thought i'd come over. 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:51.880 You don't live here anymore? 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:54.360 Just for an hour. 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.280 No, I'm not drinking. 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.320 I can't be around it. I don't want the kids 0:10:59.320 --> 0:10:59.920 around it either. 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.199 I'll leave before they get up. Give my name to 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:10.600 the gate and I'll be over and in and out. Hello, Okay, 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:15.800 so much for old times. In the mirror, I saw 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.000 a woman, not the one. 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:18.400 From the bar. 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:23.439 It was my mother rather, And it'll be your fault 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:30.000 and not a pure reflex. After you've broken your first 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:35.079 men's room mirror, the rest comes easy, especially when you're 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.679 drunk and the woman looking at you blamed you for 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:43.400 her suicide, which wasn't necessary because you already blamed yourself. 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.679 Back in the bar, the woman who smiled at me 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.559 walked over and introduced herself, Brenda. 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:56.120 That your drink fust Do I know you? 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:07.839 Not yet a little later, I was in my car 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.800 overlooking the Pacific. A revolver was on the seat next 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:16.480 to me. I looked at the moon, picked up the gun, 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:31.120 and I was dreaming. NASA arranged a Q and A 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:36.079 on our way home, the first televised press conference from 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:39.280 space and Neil, how. 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.440 Did it feel to be the first man on the moon. 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.400 When you say feel, what exactly do you mean? 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:51.040 Of course feelings For Neil, we're uncharted territory. I have 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:55.400 some thoughts on that, but no one asked the sense 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:59.880 of bitches, which didn't surprise me, but did kiss me off. 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:01.520 I got pissed easy. 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:05.720 In those days, Buzz was a Follow eleven worth more 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:07.880 than the collection of moon rocks. 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.559 I believe it's an expression of the fundamental human desire 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:17.000 to explore new territories. I view this mission as only 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.760 a beginning, and if in the years to come, future 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.560 explorers will build on the foundation we've established, then yes, 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:25.960 it was more than Mike. 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.880 It must have been difficult being up in the command 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.840 module alone in orbiting the Moon while Neil and Buzz. 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:33.880 Were actually on the lunar surface. 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:38.600 It was Yeah, what was the hardest part figuring out 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:39.199 who was who? 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:51.280 The journey to the Moon was fueled by anticipation. Now 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:56.160 we just wanted to get home. As Mike, Neil and 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.920 I flew home at five times the speed of sound, 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.280 there wasn't much for us to do. Columbia more or 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:05.840 less fluid itself. We talked for the first and only 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:10.040 time about what our futures would look like after Apollo eleven. 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:15.000 Of course, I was shocked that Neil had his precisely planned. 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:19.800 I'm going to teach aerospace engineering, and I want to 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:22.360 develop a plan for civilian space flight in the twenty 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.160 first century, and I want to travel to some of 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.360 the places on Earth that we've seen from space, North 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:34.040 and South Poles, Brazilian rainforest, by a farm where he'sed cattle, 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.320 and make sure no one turns one small step into 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:38.320 a cottage industry. 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:40.320 I want to. 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:41.200 Strengthen my marriage. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:46.400 You and Pat seem pretty solid, more than most of us. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.760 Speak for yourself, buzz i am. 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:55.000 If we're solid, it's because of Pat and sacrifices she's made. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.120 Now it's my turn, and once the ticker tape's cleaned 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.200 up and the world to are over, I'd like to, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:08.440 I don't know, start a museum maybe at the Smithsonian, 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.760 to get kids as excited about space as I was. 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:18.520 Very admirable, boys, but you're missing the opportunity of a 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:23.840 lifetime will be sought after commodities. Fortune five hundred boards 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.240 of directors are gonna want us, and I'm gonna let 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.120 them pay for the pleasure of my company. 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.480 You capitalize on what we've done, you. 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.720 Bet your ass. First half of my life has been 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:42.080 for my country. The second half will be for my family. 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:43.680 And me. 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:53.040 I did the Fortune five hundred thing. The money flowed 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:57.240 in fast and out faster. Neil and Mike were living 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:03.240 the lives, they mapped out. I lived alone, nothing interested. 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:08.920 Me Making decisions was paralyzing. And I'm not just talking 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.440 big picture. What do I do now that I walked 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.240 on the moon kind of decisions? 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:14.640 It's up to you, sir. 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:17.720 Either you want pickles with your quarter pounder or you don't. 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:24.000 Maybe I should uh just get the big mac with cheese. 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:26.280 There are other guests waiting to be served. 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.920 I'll let him wait. Okay, how many pickles are on 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:30.840 the quarter pounder? 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.640 Let's go pal today, sir. 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.760 Either make up your mind or please step aside so 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.400 our other guests can make their choices. 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:38.640 I get hungry kids here. 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:40.960 He was a big biker type. 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:42.240 Shut the fuck up? 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:43.040 What did you say? 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:44.520 I said, you're an asshole. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.200 He came at me and I was ready. I took 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:52.400 a swing at him whoa, but missed. He took one 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:52.760 at me. 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:55.560 And didn't. No. 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:58.280 Please, whoa, whoa? 0:16:58.360 --> 0:16:58.560 Whoa? 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.280 Sir, sir, can someone help us here? 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.679 I bought quarter pounders for the biker and his kids, 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:11.000 and nobody pressed charges. Then I drove to the house 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.680 I lived in when I was married to Joan. We 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.679 had a couple of horses, and I saw her at 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:21.760 the corral with doctor Ludwig. After a while, I followed 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:25.360 Ludwig to a diner. Since leaving NASA, she had gone 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.480 into private practice. She asked me about my split lip. 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.400 I told her about the fight the Hamburger shop. 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.560 She said, the inability to make decisions, no matter how small, 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.600 is a classic symptom of the depression I inherited. 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:49.920 Sometimes I think I would have been better off dying 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.280 on the moon instead of living the way I am now. 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.240 And how are you living? 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:01.960 For the first time in twenty years? Have no structure, 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:10.080 no mission. If I did the depression everything, they'd take 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:11.119 care of themselves. 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:12.359 I'd be fine. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:14.880 No, you wouldn't. 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.040 What if jone's the only one who really knows me? 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.760 What if we tried to get back together, She'd never 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:25.240 go for it. 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.280 How do you know I'd tell her not to? 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:29.800 Why? 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:37.959 Because friends don't let friends be stupid? Buzz. She's been 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.040 working to get sober, and I won't be a party 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:42.200 to her regression. 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:43.680 Neither would I. 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:49.200 You couldn't help it. And it's not because you don't 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:53.600 want what's best for her and your kids. It's because 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:58.480 you're not what's best for them. And that's because you're 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.160 a toxic combination of infla ego and love, self esteem. 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.920 And how the same bullshit we talked about eight years ago, 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:06.080 and look. 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:06.560 Where you are. 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:12.160 Well, what do you suggest treatment? 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:17.800 Admit you're an alcoholic and get into treatment. That's the 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:18.359 first step. 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.360 No, the first step is structure. I could go back 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.359 to the Air Force. They'd take me in a minute. 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:25.040 I could write my own ticket. 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.920 Go back to the Air Force. Buzz, You've got to 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.600 go forward or you won't be going anywhere. 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:43.160 General Tom Mahoney and I had been classmates at West Point. 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.359 I gave him a call at Edward's Air Force Base 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.480 and he said the door was always open. 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:52.720 So what can I do for you, Buzz? 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.080 I want to get back to work. I need a 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:02.399 recommendation from you. You know something I could sink my 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:06.000 teeth into. I mean, what's better than here at Edwards? 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:08.560 Like a homecoming from when I was coming down to 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:13.720 flight training? Uh Will, what's the hesitation? 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:14.080 No? 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:16.760 No, it's just you were here less than a year 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:21.720 and there was you know that problem with Bob White. 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:24.520 Now come on as your superior officer. 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:26.679 He was jealous of my celebrity. 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:31.000 Everybody knows that except him and maybe you I don't 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.840 deserve that. I got you the goddamn job. 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:39.400 I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tom, I need a posting. 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:44.520 You were the second man on the moon. 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:46.680 And damnit, how many times do I have to be 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:47.440 reminded of that? 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:50.800 What I was gonna say is that counts for a lot. 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.280 But frankly, Buzz, we've heard your drinking. It is a 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:56.240 little out of control. 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:57.600 Now that's not true. 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:02.320 We hear that is what we hear. But I'm willing 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:04.960 to roll the dice again. It's just we've got to 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:08.800 be realistic. Now, listen to me. There may be an 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.280 opening at clear it's a radar station. 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:13.320 Where's that Alaska? 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:20.080 No, seriously, Anderson, Alaska. You put in a couple of 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.399 years there, and if there's no issues, then you. 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:25.919 Can come a couple of years in the middle of nowhere. 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:28.600 At the moments, you're pretty much unplaceable. 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.040 A word from you could change that. 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.560 The words Alaska. Now, if you want to get back 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.080 in the saddle, that rning what reindeer? 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:38.240 You know what? 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:39.160 Get Tom? 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:41.640 You know this has always been your problem. You think 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.639 the sun shines out your ass. You could take Alaska 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:47.600 and shove it up yours. 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:52.520 In those days. 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:56.040 If I was running for election as my own worst enemy, 0:21:56.400 --> 0:22:00.359 I'd have won by a landslide. But those were days 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:02.800 I didn't even see coming. As we headed home. In 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:08.159 the command module, everything seemed normal as we programmed coordinates 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:10.680 for re entry into the Earth's atmosphere. 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:16.760 Upon eleven, Houston stand by and will center state vector 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:19.600 and re entry load. The data uploads are in. 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:21.360 Okay, sounds good. 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:24.639 You should know that President Nixon surprised your wife to 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:26.840 the phone call from Air Force one as he flew 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:27.800 out to San Francisco. 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:33.280 How about that, ah, I'm sure they loved it over cre. 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:38.240 Entry coordinates are as follows. Area is mid Pacific rule 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:43.120 zero zero zero one five to two zero zero one, 0:22:43.800 --> 0:22:48.280 latitude plus one three three to two sextant star four 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:51.919 or five zero one eight nine er lift vector. 0:22:51.760 --> 0:22:54.720 Up roger that Houston, I'll update your. 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:56.600 Retro times for various altitudes. 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.119 Backup. Cruz standing by to assist you. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:02.440 I just want to remind you that the most discicult 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:05.480 part of your mission is going to be reentry over. 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:11.280 Thank you for that. We didn't know how difficult, but 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:13.280 in Hawaii they did. 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:15.639 Captain. 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:19.200 The Project thirty five satellite confirms that Apollo Levin's command 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:21.200 module is going to splash down in a hurricane. 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:28.320 Stop talking, Lieutenant, shut the door. You know better than 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:31.040 to mention Project thirty five. Yes, sir, but access is 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:33.879 code word, and you aren't even cleared to be briefed 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:36.760 on it. And now I hear you've been blabbing all 0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:39.960 over operations about it, even to the insigns. 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:43.440 Sir, I know it's a breach, but Columbia is coming 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:46.680 down into thirty foot swells. The helicopters won't be able 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:48.280 to recover it. Lieutenant will lose that. 0:23:48.320 --> 0:23:51.360 We're running strike packages out of Thailand tomorrow into North 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:54.720 Vietnam based on the data from Project thirty five, a 0:23:54.800 --> 0:23:59.439 classified satellite the Communists don't know we have. But if 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.760 NASA changes of splash down land inside the North Vietnamese 0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:06.480 will know the satellite exists, and sixty of our pilots 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:10.680 will be sitting ducks. Three lives or sixty. 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:15.360 You do the math with respect, sir. 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:19.520 They're the first men on the moon drowning like a 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:20.439 sack of cats? 0:24:21.760 --> 0:24:22.800 Will that be our legacy? 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:43.000 Buzz, starring John Lithgow and Jeffrey Errand, is created by 0:24:43.040 --> 0:24:47.240 Stephen Cronish and directed by John Scott Dryden. Chapter ten 0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:51.240 is written by Matt Graham and Stephen Cronish. Original music 0:24:51.400 --> 0:24:55.359 is by Sasha Putnam. Sound designed by Elouise Whitmore. The 0:24:55.480 --> 0:24:59.320 producer is Emma Hearn. The executive producers are Jeremy Fox, 0:25:00.040 --> 0:25:05.200 Scott Dryden, Stephen Cronish, Howard Stringer and Jason English. Buzz 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:08.800 is a production of Thoroughbred Studios, gold Hawk Productions, and 0:25:08.920 --> 0:25:10.040 iHeart Podcasts.