Astronaut takes a dive in Cayman

| 24/08/2010

(CNS): While he may have missed out on the giant leap for mankind Buzz Aldrin enjoyed a giant splash in Cayman last week when he visited the islands for and enjoyed a spot of diving. The famous former astronaut, who was the 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 approachedmembers of Cayman’s Dive community for support for its fundraising efforts with complimentary accommodation and 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 tourism industry along with the Department and Ministry of Tourism, where he met with government officials as well as the local sponsors who are donating to the scholarship foundation.
 
Although Aldrin had 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.
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  1. Grandma's Wisdom says:

    I wonder if Buzz would consider making one more trip into space…………………………………………………..and bring back some of our MLAs?

    • Anonymous says:

      If so, he should leave them all there and take the rest with him!!  Already talking ‘pods’ in one news article today!!!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Great, marvelllous the "supposed" accomplishments of the Space Programme but why is the U.S. trying to raise money in Cayman from Caymanians / residents?  Charity begins at home, fundraising and support of any scholarship programme in Cayman should be for the benefit of Cayman’s own!!  The U.S. has a huge base from which to draw when it comes to charitable donations, Cayman by comparison doesn’t.  You’d think it would be the other way round.  The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation should be offering Scholarships to the top Science and Engineering students from the Cayman Islands…. and YES they do exist!!!!!

    • ex-pat eric says:

      It was a charitable auction held in the US. US citizens enjoy traveling to Cayman for the diving. I guess they could have picked a different country, maybe you should be more angry at the Caymanian host of the item auctioned.

      With any charitable based auction they request a donation so as to actually make money for the event.

      And it wasn’t the US government trying to make money off Caymanians. In fact the Caymanian business would probably gain some renewable tourists from the event. But the money was raised by people bidding on the item, whom I would assume are from the US.

      How about a Caymanian based charity host an event that enlists the support of a US based institution for an item to be placed on auction — say "Space Camp". Then your aspiring engineers and scientist can travel to that location for a learning experience.

      BTW — many US higher learning institutions provide a great deal of incentives for foreign students. It helps diversify the population of the schools. They also hold spots open for those individuals instead of giving them to maybe more qualified US students.

      • Anonymous says:

        As usual the point is missed by expat.

        Will any deserving Caymanian student have access to the scholarship?

        • Where's Waldo says:

          As usual you feel that you are entitled?

          The person who donated the prizes has the right to do so to whom they please, it is the right of those bidding at the auction to spend their money on whatever cause they choose.

        • ex-pat eric says:

          I didn’t miss the point. The foundation is setup for US Citizens. It is a private foundation that supports the "notion" of US excellence in the field of science – directly from the foundations website.

          I also stopped myself from comparing the requirement that the scholarship go to a US citizen to that of work permit denials in favor of Caymanian citizens.

          Instead I provided a suggestion as to how a Caymanian student could gain access to an educational opportunity and you chose to ignore it!

        • Hufflepuff says:

          With people like this we may need to reassess the solar system, because according to their view of the universe the world revolves around them.

        • Anonymous says:

          Does Cayman offer access to scholarships to expat students or do they offer them to Caymanians? That’s right, Caymanian students who want a first class college education attend school abroad. I bet a few Caymanians even obtain scholarships. You are pathetic and small minded. Perhaps you should attend one of the local colleges and take a reading comprehension class.

    • Eiblo Goughts says:

      How miserable and self-centred. 

      From a statistical point of view a top American science student is far more likely to contribute to the greater good of mankind through inventiveness than a top Cayman student simply because of the likelihood of the American being placed at a far higher end of the global bell curve.  That is simply a factor of 330m compared to 35,000.  One would be a national leading student, the other the top of a rural village.

    • O'Really says:

      Here’s a website that will let you understand some of the "supposed " accomplishments of the space programme.

      http://www.nasasolutions.com/at_home.html

      Heaven forbid you should have to do your own research or make any attempt to understand the article before banging on the entitlement drum! 

      And with the greatest of respect for intelligent and educated Caymanians out there, the type of intellect we are talking about when we say and actually mean rocket scientist, may come along once in several generations ( if that ) with a base population of 30,000. 

      Of one thing I am absolutely certain neither you nor I are among this elite.

       

  3. Anonymous says:

    How many people can say they’ve been to the moon.  Its a great deal for anyone whether you were the first or the last person there.  I remember reading about him in books as a child and it would have been great to have met him.  There will always be skeptics out there but I am one person who actually believe that the moon landings were for real. 

  4. Lachlan MacTavish says:

    Absolutely no down play of Mr. Aldrin’s incredible accomplishments. But the CNS article with "reclusive lunar colleague Armstrong" and a computer game, snoop dog, dancing with the stars, rap song, doesn’t tell the true story.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Listen up folks, if any of us had actually been to the moon, we would not be able to stop telling people about it. When I hear of his "reclusive" partner, I get awfully suspicious.

    Man NEVER did go to the moon and they cannot prove it. Period.

    • ex-pat eric says:

      Get out your tin foil hat!

      Doesn’t matter what your suspicion is — maybe Neil Armstrong doesn’t like fan-fare and being around a lot of petty little people such as yourself. Whatever, it is his choice. Mr. Aldrin is different.

      The USA was able to make that significant achievement as well as many others – stop being a hater!

      There was even a Mythbusters episode covering all the detractions and they debunked all the contrary comments. So what proof do you have that several men didn’t land on the moon?

      Here’s a Wikipedia link for you to read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_evidence_for_Apollo_Moon_landings

      • no stars in their eyes says:

        Two very simple things for starters. But first, you make me laugh because you don’t want your little bubble to be burst knowing that you’ve been spoon-fed BS since birth.

        Astronauts on the moon! What a joke. Mythbusters, who the hell are they?pathetic!

        1. Why do the light sources appear to converge? This can only happen in a studio situation where the light sources are close. If the light came from the sun, the shadows would be parallel. They are not. Explain that.

        2. Not one astronaut ever claims to have seen stars. Oh come on. How ridiculous. So you get closer to something and they disappear? There are no stars on any of the moonshots because it would have been impossible to fake as there are many good astronomers who could have proven then fake. Solution, no stars. Pathetic.

        I will put on my tin foil hat when you take off your blindfold and pull your fingers out of your ears. Wake up people. The government has fed us BS too long.