Buzz Aldrin is one of the last American Heroes. On 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, the Eagle touches down on the moon’s surface. That’s a milestone in humanity’s history but also the beginning of the myth that Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin never travelled to earth’s satellite but are part of an epic TV show that is Hollywood’s most remarkable success of all time. 

In Summer 2012, Andreas Kidess and I met Buzz Aldrin personally in Los Angeles. While he was sitting in front of our cameras, the moon looked down on us from California’s firmament. The mind-bending fact was that we saw the explorer and his former destination in one moment. 

Looking into Buzz Aldrin’s eyes made unmistakeably clear: he definitely put his foot on the moon.

The clip was shot on behalf of Bayer to illustrate their 150 anniversary because all Apollo missions carried Aspirin in their medical kits. 5 years later, Bayer acquired Monsanto and made it impossible for us to follow up on other exciting stories.

However, pitching successfully the idea to put the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and Buzz Aldrin on top of Bayer’s 150th-anniversary communication efforts realised a boys dream: meeting the man on the moon.

A few years later, we met again in Germany and chatted about strategies for colonising Mars. Buzz Aldrin’s suggestions leave out the option to go back to earth. Following my question of why not have such an option, he answered: Did the people who colonised America have a return ticket in their pocket? 

That roughly sums up the difference between Europe and the US.