Buzz Aldrin was responsible for a number of milestones in his career as an astronaut, but he’s made it clear in recent years that he’s still capable of raising the bar for retirees. On Sunday, at age 87, he became the oldest person to ever take flight with the Thunderbirds, the United States Air Force’s Air Demonstration Squadron.
Aldrin shared every step toward his latest achievement with his million-plus Twitter followers, even jokingly referring to his fellow Air Force pilots as “hotshots” during his safety briefing at Kennedy Space Center. Shortly after, he strapped into an F-16 with Thunderbird #7 Lt. Col. Kevin Walsh to fly in the Diamond Formation ahead of the team’s appearance at the Melbourne Air and Space Show.
“It’s certainly been a good while, but I still understand the throttle and the stick and formation flying,” the Korean War veteran said of his F-16 experience. “I felt at home, and it would be nice to be able to do that all the time.”
Of course, Aldrin couldn’t help but acknowledge SpaceX’s latest historic accomplishment, as he had a little fun with Elon Musk in the afterglow of his newest legendary flight.
