It turns out going to the moon is a tough act to follow. For all their Buck Rogers, “Right Stuff,” history-making achievements, the question for many of the 12 astronauts who walked on the lunar surface starting four decades ago ultimately became “one giant leap to where, exactly” “You have your peak experience at 38 or 39,” says space historian Andrew Chaiken, summing up their collective experience, “and [they] have a hard time coming up with something to do for an encore.” Apollo 11 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 16, 1969. Four days later, the first two humans walked on the lunar surface; 10 more Americans followed by the end of 1972
