To The Moon Or Mars

I remember when I was a child witnessing the lunar landing of Apollo 11. Like millions of people around the world I was glued to my television set as the grainy images appeared of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking across the surface of another world. Recently, the 40th Anniversary of this event had arrived. NASA used this opportunity to celebrate the successful mission and to showcase the future endeavors of the space agency. The crew of this historic mission has been touring and lecturing about the future and where we should be heading with space exploration. The following is an excerpt from the Buzz Aldrin interview by Tariq Malik, as it appeared on the Fox News website; http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533785,00.html?test=latestnews
Buzz Aldrin: Put Humans on Mars By 2031
By Tariq Malik
The moon may have been the entire world for a day for Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin 40 years ago, but today he hopes the United States and the world set their sights on a far grander goal: Spreading humanity to Mars and perhaps asteroids and comets.
But NASA's plan to replace its three aging space shuttles with Orion capsules to carry astronauts to the moon by 2020 may not justify its $35 billion cost if it stops there, said Aldrin, one of the first humans to set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969.
Instead, the United States can aid international partners in exploring the moon and free up its own spaceflight resources to develop systems for even more ambitious goals, he told in an interview.
"While the international explorers, with our help, are going to the moon, we can develop the long-duration life support systems for other things," said Aldrin, 79. "Flying by a comet, visiting an asteroid and station-keeping with it."
Mars within reach
With an international base on the moon and vital technologies like in-space refueling, Aldrin envisions an ambitious series of expeditions to send astronauts on a deep space mission to visit the asteroid Aphophis when it swings near Earth in 2021. A temporarily manned base on the Mars moon Phobos could follow, he added.
"By that time, we'd be ready to put people in a gradual permanence on Mars by 2031," Aldrin said. "That, in a nutshell, is what I really think we should be doing."
NASA's current transition from the space shuttle to Orion is a huge step backward, Aldrin said. The shuttle's may not have lived up to its initial expectations, but its ability to haul tons of cargo to orbit and land on a runway is a capability that should not be lost in order to replace it with something faster and cheaper, he stressed.
"What happens to U.S. space global leadership if everything is going to be done on the cheap and we're not going to think ahead, and we're going back to the moon for some reason that really won't justify the cost of human habitation," he said.
The United States should "do the things that this nation can do and strive toward maintaining globally space leaderships. And that means lifting bodies, runway landers and not going back to the moon, because we've been there," Aldrin added.

I agree with Mr. Aldrin and believe the ambitions of NASA should reach well beyond the Moon. I know some critics would say we do not know enough about our own planet yet for us to be reaching for the stars. But, I believe the gains in space exploration; will help us to understand more about our own earth, its origin and how important it is to help preserve our most natural resource, the planet we live on. I believe the colonization of the Moon is paramount before we reach further into the stars. We need to perfect our technologies of living on another surface, landing and lift-off procedures, as well as, all that is needed to survive in a non atmospheric environment, away from the safety of our own world. I believe the benefits go beyond just the scientific. In fact, I believe the technologies developed will impact every facet of our lives. From the economic thru medical and all life sciences will be enhanced by a healthy and rigorous space program. I only hope our government and all governments around the world are as excited about the future of space exploration as I am.

That’s How I See It.

Website of reference;
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533785,00.html?test=latestnews
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11
http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/Apollo/AS11/a11.htm
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo11/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(spacecraft)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA