Editor’s letter

15-Minute Countdown

I’ve previously told this story in this space, but that was in 2011, so please extend me a little grace for the repeat. 

For a cover feature, I interviewed astronaut Buzz Aldrin to talk about his dad, Edwin Aldrin Sr., a 1915 graduate of Clark. Edwin Sr. had been a student of Clark physicist Robert Goddard, whose rocketry experiments gave us the modern space age. Edwin’s son, of course, was the second man to walk on the moon—a historic achievement with a direct line to Clark. Beyond that, Buzz insisted it was Edwin who connected Goddard with famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, who then made the crucial introduction to the Guggenheim family that gave Goddard access to the funding he needed for his rocketry research in Roswell, New Mexico.

What a story! But there was one logistical problem with my Buzz conversation: Aldrin’s handlers had allotted me a maximum of 15 minutes to speak with him. And that precious time was quickly getting eaten up because the astronaut was sharing details about his moon landing while I desperately, awkwardly, tried to steer him into a discussion of his father’s life and career. 

As the minutes ticked away, a voice in my head finally convinced me to take a breath, stop panicking, and appreciate one very significant fact: Buzz Aldrin is describing for you, one-on-one, what it was like to leave footprints on the lunar surface. So just … listen. 

And that’s what I did. Ultimately, he gave me 45 minutes and talked plenty about his father. 

Problem solved. Because he’s Buzz Aldrin.

The 100th anniversary of Goddard’s first successful liquid-fueled rocket launch reminded me of the many incredible Clark hooks in the history and perpetuation of the space program. John Emond ’74, a retired NASA analyst and manager, returned to campus in March to recall how Goddard’s seemingly primitive experiments a century ago laid the blueprint for propelling humankind into the cosmos. 

No matter how far we travel in the universe, we can always trace the journey back to that memorable launch. Robert Goddard made sure Clark’s stamp has been on every mission since. Let there be light years.

The world is a big place, until it feels small. We can’t let it slip from our grasp.