I was there when SpaceX successfully recovered/landed the two Falcon Heavy boosters for the first time. It was an amazing experience, a huge event, tons of people, lots of cameras, space celebs, guest speakers, whole shebang. Extremely cool thing to witness.
So I’m loitering near some guy with a fancy camera on a tripod, as a lot of folks had. And suddenly he stands up straight, looking upset, and says, dumbfounded, “I…I have to tell someone what I just saw…I’m sorry…I just…Buzz Aldrin is, right now, clipping his fingernails on a balcony above the crowd.”
And I was like, I beg your finest pardon? And he shows me and a few other folks who heard him his footage, and sure enough, there’s Buzz Aldrin, clear as crystal, standing alone on a balcony above where people were eating food and generally mingling, leaning over the railing and…just clipping his fingernails. Directly over all those people.
So. I didn’t meet him, I suppose, and I knew my space history and that of all of them, Buzz could absolutely be a bit much. But man. Really, dude? Really?!
I’ve never gotten over it.
So I’m loitering near some guy with a fancy camera on a tripod, as a lot of folks had. And suddenly he stands up straight, looking upset, and says, dumbfounded, “I…I have to tell someone what I just saw…I’m sorry…I just…Buzz Aldrin is, right now, clipping his fingernails on a balcony above the crowd.”
And I was like, I beg your finest pardon? And he shows me and a few other folks who heard him his footage, and sure enough, there’s Buzz Aldrin, clear as crystal, standing alone on a balcony above where people were eating food and generally mingling, leaning over the railing and…just clipping his fingernails. Directly over all those people.
So. I didn’t meet him, I suppose, and I knew my space history and that of all of them, Buzz could absolutely be a bit much. But man. Really, dude? Really?!
I’ve never gotten over it.