Jim Lovell

Look at the calendar. Tomorrow’s date is 4321. That inspired me to choose today’s interview, with the man who was commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which took place 51 years ago this month.

Jim Lovell was the commander of the three-man crew, whose mission was to land on the Moon. But just two days into the mission, something went terribly wrong.

Tom Hanks, who played Jim Lovell in the movie Apollo 13, uttered the words that have become a catchphrase. But in the moment when level actually said those words, he and his crew mates were dangerously close to death.

In 1994, Jim Lovell co-authored a book about the Apollo 13 mission, and that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1994, Jim Lovell:

Lovell celebrated his 93rd birthay last week.

Buzz Aldrin

On July 20th, 1969, Buzz Aldrin was 39 years old, as he and Neil Armstrong became the first two human beings ever to set foor on the surface of the moon.

Fifty-one years sounds like a long time, but to those of us who remember watching it unfold live on TV, it’s almost like it was yesterday.

To untold millions of people all over the world, Buzz Aldrin, to this day, remains a larger-than-life hero. That’s why, when I met him in 2000, I was more than just a bit starstruck.

Aldrin had written his second novel, a fictional story of a disaster aboard a space shuttle. And, as you’ll hear, he was very focused on the future of space travel, not his past.

So here now, from 2000, Buzz Aldrin.

Buzz Aldrin is 90 now. He lives in Satellite Beach, Florida.