Friday, October 24, 2008

Fly Them To Mars, And Leave 'Em There, Says Buzz Aldrin

That's easy for Buzz to say. Wonder how he'd have felt if they said that when they sent him to moon! I think we could eventually put up permanent residence on Mars but there's a lot to contend with first before it becomes a life long adventure. Also, when the Europeans came to America they had something that Mars lacks: Natural Resources and other humans living here first.

Though Aldrin makes a case for it, at this point, we need to concentrate on getting there and establishing a base of operations before we set up an old-astronaut retirement community. Rotating workers into and out of a Mars base would make more sense with tours of duty lasting from 2 – 5 years instead of say, forever.

Though I did agree on one ideological point Aldrin made. While the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS) have probably provided some scientific and even commercial value, they “were a disappointment” as the article says.

In the story Aldrin is quoted as saying that the shuttle “has not lived up to its expectations, neither has the space station.”

Agreed.

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