Buzz Aldrin Recalls 'Iconic' Moon Landing Photo

It's "one of the most iconic pictures of the 20th century," according to Mashable. And on Thursday—the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing—Buzz Aldrin took to Twitter to give a small behind-the-scenes glimpse of how it happened. "It was very spontaneous," Aldrin said of Neil Armstrong's photograph showing him standing on the surface of the moon. "He said, 'Stop right there,' and I turned," Aldrin added. "You can see the motion of the strap." Plenty of Twitter users responded to Aldrin's tweet with their own memories of the moon landing. "I was 11," one person responded. "One of the greatest photos of my lifetime. What an adventure that was for all of us."

Even though Aldrin missed out on being the first man on the moon "by a mere matter of inches and minutes," he "earned a different kind of immortality" through the photo, Time reports. Since Armstrong—the first man on the moon—was carrying the camera, "the only moon man earthlings would see clearly would be the one who took the second steps." In addition to discussing the famous photo, Aldrin also shared what was going through his mind when the Apollo 11 crew left the moon: "Oh man, I wanna go home." He tells Business Insider: "We were successful doing what we were sent there to do." (More Buzz Aldrin stories.)