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Questions for Buzz Aldrin
Topic Started: Jun 23 2009, 12:22 AM (592 Views)
ngc1514
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From the Sunday NY Times Magazine with one of the saddest sentences I've read lately:

Q. Are the days of American pre-eminence in space over?
A. Yes.

Or, as science and science fiction writer, Jerry Pournelle, wrote: "I always knew I would see the first man on the moon. I never dreamed I would see the last."

Quote:
 
The New York Times
June 21, 2009
Questions for Buzz Aldrin
The Man on the Moon
By DEBORAH SOLOMON

Forty summers ago, the world was transfixed by the sight of you walking on the moon. Have we made any progress since the Apollo 11 flight?
Not a whole lot. We shifted our attention to low-earth orbit.

Meaning the shuttle program, which is about to end?
We’ve been concentrating on the shuttle, the space station and laying the groundwork for returning to the moon. The disturbing part is that, all this time, Russia has been concentrating on Phobos, a moon of Mars, and a number of us have recently realized just how significant that would be as a stepping stone to Mars.

Do you think Mars has more to offer than the moon?
Yes, much more. It’s much more terrestrial. It has a thin atmosphere and a day/night cycle that is very similar to ours. It has seasons. Russia perhaps is still entertaining the possibility that the moons of Mars might have access to ice or water.

Are you saying the moon has become passé?
It is not promising for commercial activities. It’s got science, it may have strategic values but I don’t believe it’s a requirement for Americans to be present to take advantage of the resources. Their viability can be determined by robots.

Are the days of American pre-eminence in space over?
Yes.

Is it true that Buzz Lightyear, the cartoon astronaut, was named after you?
Apparently, but there’s no evidence in my bank account to substantiate that.

Do you know Charles Bolden, the former astronaut who has been nominated by President Obama to head NASA?
I know him quite well. I was a little puzzled when I realized that his major champion is Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who flew with him.

Right, Nelson was a congressman when he flew on the shuttle. But isn’t that a good thing, making it easier for Bolden to muster Congressional support for NASA? Why were you puzzled?
I’m in favor of changing the destination of humans. There are a lot of manned missions that can be done, but not in the direction of the moon. I am not sure about Bill Nelson. I haven’t heard him say, “Let’s junk the NASA plan to send humans to the moon.” He’s not about to say that. That would not be very popular.

You were the second person to walk on the moon, after Neil Armstrong. Was it annoying to go second?
No. At that time I wasn’t looking for more laurels.

You gave yourself communion on the surface of the moon. Are you still a churchgoer?
No. My Sunday mornings are spent in a recovery meeting in Pacific Palisades.

In your new memoir, “Magnificent Desolation,” which comes out this week, you recount a period of ruinous drinking and clinical depression following your time in space.
I inherited depression from my mother’s side of the family. Her father committed suicide. She committed suicide the year before I went to the moon.

Was your mother’s maiden name really Marion Moon?
Yes. I didn’t feel NASA needed to know that. Somebody would think I was trying to get favored treatment because my ancestors had the name Moon. And that’s a joke.

Do you find it odd that we’re observing the 40th anniversary of both the moonwalk and Woodstock?
I don’t think I’m going to journey to Woodstock.

What sort of music do you like?
I just did a rap session with Snoop Dogg and a rap composition called “Rocket Experience.” It’s going to be an online video. The Web site is funnyordie.com.

Do you actually sing on the video?
I relate. It’s not singing, it’s rapping.

How old are you now?
On July 20, the anniversary of landing on the moon, I will be precisely 79 and a half. It’s nice to be on this side of troubled waters.


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Mike
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I don't pay much attention to space travel, but I do remember reading or hearing on the news about the various space programs and plans of other countries. I don't think we have space travel as a high priority at present. We have enough to deal with on this planet it would seem.
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ngc1514
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Mike
Jul 2 2009, 01:48 PM
I don't pay much attention to space travel, but I do remember reading or hearing on the news about the various space programs and plans of other countries. I don't think we have space travel as a high priority at present. We have enough to deal with on this planet it would seem.
I'm sure that many Europeans felt the same way towards the end of the 15th and through the 16th centuries as the Age of Exploration opened up the rest of the world.

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Mike
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You are probably right.

I think we need to evolve technology further before we spend untold $ billions using crude means of propulsion and life support in manned spacecraft. Robots are probably the best way to answer many of the questions.
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ngc1514
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The reason most of the exciting space probes of the last 35 years have been robotic probes is because they are cheaper and don't face the issues of keeping humans alive or the requirement of bringing the crew back home.

Alas, they also don't have the immediacy obtained by putting man's feet on the ground of new worlds. While robots can do a large number of things, they are not infinitely programmable like a man nor do they return the aesthetic impressions only a man can return.

Untold billions? The space program has been one of the cheapest programs our government has run and the only one that returns more on investment than put into it. Much of today's technology that we take for granted was developed - directly or indirectly - from money spent on space exploration.

And it leaves off the possible returns from pure research - something that can never be measured before the fact.

Waiting for technology to catch up will always keep us in the rear of the world's space programs.
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Mike
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I doubt congress will fund the money required to visit another planet. It doesn't appear to be very high in priority right now. So apparently we are going to fall behind the efforts of other nations in space exploration.


I thought the space station was designed for research and finding new applications we can use here?
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ngc1514
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The obvious solution is a world-wide effort to settle the Moon with a permanent colony and the put man on Mars.
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Mike
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A cooperative effort does make sense. Spread the cost around and share the benefits.
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The human race would have a better chance of survival if we spead out a bit. Obviously finding another colonizable, inhabitable, planet is beyond our means for at least another century. if not longer. We are unlikely IMO to still be here, at least as a spacefaring technological society, by then. A small leap in technology may however enable conlonization of a distant planet by risky one way journeys. The technology is close to finding planets that may be suitable and it now appears planets are common, albeit maybe not habitable ones. That is assuming of course, they are not already occupied by some sort of intelligent life themselves. Mind you that fact has not stopped us from displacing others in the past. That brings up the uncomfortable prospect that something else may have that attitude towards us and we have certainly been advertising our presence here for awhile.
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ngc1514
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Alas, I suspect your points are true, telcoman.

It's going to take more than a small technological leap to send us outside the Solar System even in those generation ships loved by sci-fi writers. Wouldn't be surprised to discover the research, technology, planning and construction of even a single generation ship would consume the planet's total GDP for years. A HUGE capital investment for which there would be no possibility of any return from the mission itself.

The Biosphere and Biosphere 2 projects showed the incredible difficulties in creating an artificial, self-sustaining environment for a small group of people. Solving those problems alone would be a major undertaking.

It looks like our Solar System will be mankind's playground for the foreseeable future.. but that's a pretty remarkable buncha bodies to explore! And they are right in our backyard.
Edited by ngc1514, Jul 15 2009, 12:11 AM.
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