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Buzz: Forget Moon, Let's Go to Mars

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 16, 2009 1:26 AM CDT

(Newser) – America should boldly turn its space program toward colonizing Mars instead of trying to retrace the dusty footprints that he and Neil Armstrong made on the Moon 40 years ago, Buzz Aldrin writes in the Washington Post on the anniversary of Apollo 11's launch. NASA's attempt to resume lunar exploration will end up like its predecessor, "a dead end littered with broken spacecraft, broken dreams and broken policies," Aldrin writes.

"The Moon is a lifeless, barren world, its stark desolation matched by its hostility to all living things." Let the Moon be a global commons, Aldrin writes, while America forges ahead to Mars, inspiring a new generation to aim for "the first homestead in space: an American colony" on a new world. "Our Apollo days were a time when we did bold things in space to achieve leadership," Aldrin concludes. "It is time we were bold again in space."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the US flag on the lunar surface. (AP Photo/NASA, file)

Buzz Aldrin, who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, speaks during an event marking the 40th anniversary of the moon landings. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

"Robotic exploration of Mars has yielded tantalizing clues about what was once a water-soaked planet," Aldrin writes. (AP Photo/NASA )

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Our next generation must think boldly in terms of a goal for the space program: Mars for America's future. - Buzz Aldrin

Replaying the glory days of Apollo will not advance the cause of American space leadership or inspire the support and enthusiasm of the public and the next generation of space explorers. - Buzz Aldrin

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 9 comments

Doctor-Zaius

Jul 16, 2009 12:42 PM CDT

That's the point. Most of the energy is expended getting out of Earth orbit. Several trips to the moon with what you need and one big jump from the moon to Mars.

kokuaguy

Jul 16, 2009 9:59 AM CDT

OK, now I can go to Comedy Central with a clear conscience.

kokuaguy

Jul 16, 2009 9:57 AM CDT

This knuckle headed comment instantly focused my thinking on the issue: "With Earth in the throes of its own climate evolution...." The Earth's climate is not "evolving" so much as it is being modified by the misguided and selfish actions of the human species. I can't trust anyone who would attempt to obscure this reality and the horror ahead. If we can afford to stave off mass extinction of countless species on our own planet then perhaps we can consider a future Martian "homestead" for a tiny colony of the elite who are responsible for Earth's sorry state.

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NASA • Mars • moon • Buzz Aldrin • lunar exploration • moon landings • Neil Armstrong • Apollo 11

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