It was one small step taken 45 years ago. Around the world, eyes were collectively riveted to grainy pictures on a television screen while others gazed up at the sky in wonder and awe. America had achieved the impossible as Buzz Aldrin joined fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong in walking on the surface of the moon.

“I was one of three lucky guys who got selected for that mission,” said Aldrin of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in July of 1969. “I just happen to come along at just the right time with just the right credentials.”

Speaking to a standing room only crowd at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office Military Association’s Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 6, Aldrin talked about his continuing passion for space exploration.

“I would like to see us get to Mars,” Aldrin said. “But we need the American people to feel the same passion for our space program as we felt 45 years ago.”

After graduating third in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1951, Aldrin went on to earn a doctorate at MIT and is the holder of three U.S. patents for his schematics of a modular space station, Starbooster reusable rockets and multi-crew modules for space flight.

“We never heard the word STEM back then,” said Aldrin of the widely-used acronym for the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “But I would add an ‘A’ to that to stress the importance of the arts in giving this country ‘STEAM’ power.”

Aldrin, who toured the Inventors Hall of Fame Museum following the ceremony, remains at the forefront of efforts to continue human space exploration.

“The most difficult to bring back are the first ones to land,” Aldrin said. “But if we have a destination, a time frame and a plan, I believe we can achieve even greater success in space.”

Aldrin brought some levity to the ceremony when he was asked about the significance of the now iconic photograph taken of him on the moon with Armstrong and the lunar module visible in the reflection of his helmet.

“That picture is still famous around the world,” Aldrin said. “The reason for its importance is simple — location, location, location.”

Aldrin, who noted that his mother was born the same year the Wright Brothers took their first flight, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011 for his achievements in space exploration and its impact on American history.

“I was just a young towhead from New Jersey,” Aldrin said. “But I am fortunate to be an inhabitant of this wonderful country of ours and humbled by the great privilege I had to serve my country.”