Photograph courtesy of Buzz Aldrin.

Even in the company of other astronauts, Buzz Aldrin is still the hippest guy in the room. At the 2010 Astronaut Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which took place earlier this month at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Buzz was the Jack Nicholson to NASA’s Oscars. He exuded an effortless cool just by smiling at the crowd, and all eyes were on him even when he wasn’t meant to be the center of attention. The ceremony’s host, Jon Cryer (because when you think of astronauts, you think of the guy who played “Duckie“), perfectly summed up the feelings of pretty much everybody in the audience. “From the moment I arrived,” he said, “it has been all that I can do to keep from saying, ‘So Buzz, when you were like on the Moon and stuff, was it awesome’?”

Of course, Buzz wasn’t the only man to walk on the Moon. There have been eleven others. But he was the second one to do it. And as he once reminded Homer Simpson, “Second comes right after first!” Over the last few months, it seems like Buzz has been everywhere, doing absolutely nothing you’d expect from an 80-year-old legend who’s witnessed magnificent desolation firsthand. He’s rapped about rockets with Snoop Dogg, hosted a WWE Raw wrestling match, stolen scenes from Tina Fey on 30 Rock, and did the Cha-cha-cha on Dancing With the Stars. (A curious side note: He was the second contestant to be voted off Dancing With the Stars this season, which proves that Buzz is nothing if not consistent.) Neil Armstrong may’ve taken a giant leap for mankind, but Buzz tweets and has his own iPhone app.

I met with Buzz prior to the Astronaut Hall of Fame ceremony, at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. We talked in the dining room of his Cocoa Beach hotel, where he’d arrived early for what was only described to me as an “astronaut’s breakfast.” Being alone in his company, I’ll confess that I was hoping for the same thing that anybody in my position would. But no, he didn’t ask me if I wanted to yell at the Moon with him. Instead, he sipped on several glasses of juice (a mix of half orange and half cranberry) and told stories that occasionally rambled, sometimes ending with confusing sentences like “You have to appreciate these things in rotating coordinates.” But you don’t interrupt Buzz Aldrin. For one thing, he once punched a reporter in the face for getting uppity. And also, have you ever walked on the Moon? No? Then why don’t you just shut the fuck up.

Here’s a completely random and perhaps insignificant detail: During our conversation, Buzz had something on his wrist that looked distinctly like a candy bracelet. I fully admit that I’m probably very, very wrong, and the bracelet likely had some significance totally unrelated to candy. But whatever it was, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, and I kept waiting for Buzz to bring the bracelet to his mouth and start nibbling.

Eric Spitznagel: If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a question that I wrote when I was five years old.

Buzz Aldrin: Really? (Laughs.) You’ve been waiting on this one awhile.

My kindergarten teacher had us write letters to astronauts, asking our most burning questions about space travel. I wrote to you, but I assume you never got my letter.

Oh gosh, how long ago was that? I really couldn’t tell you.