The latest Buzz from space

Adam, Brisbane, Australia — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:28:16 GMT

One-way colonisation of Mars makes a certain amount of sense - that is after all what a colony is all about, staying and living somewhere new. But just what will make a livable colony on Mars? The colonists need resources and the means to get them. That will require some elaborate preparation before people are arriving to stay.

The latest Buzz from space

Alan Boyle — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:43:37 GMT

It strikes me that you can't talk about how animated Buzz Aldrin can get without referring to the time he slugged a "moon hoax" campaigner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

The latest Buzz from space

steve smyth — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:38:35 GMT

The Real Guys are The Real Guys...ain't they?
What a pleasure to hear from someone who isn't a posing dillettante.
Maybe Buzz is the one who didn't catch the 'not in our lifetime' disease.
I hope so.
Buzz,
Anytime you are ready, Sir.
I've been saving this up for just the right time.
Clicking my name below will set the stage.
Alan knows a lot about the subject.
I can lay out a simple, straightforward solution that becomes another solution ad infinitum, by virtue of co-operation with natural forces rather than the usual gravity defying rocketeering followed by gravity embracing burn in.
Fall into Space with Gaia Two...and return gently, like a controlled falling leaf.
You have my personal guarantee that I can project this vehicle all the way through to reality.
Let me know what you think, OK?

The latest Buzz from space

Jeff, Atlanta — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:42:17 GMT

I can't believe Buzz Aldrin, one of my heroes, thinks that growing a colony on Mars, starting with current environmental conditions, is the way to go.

No matter where humans colonize, I think the planet needs to pass the shirt-sleeves test. If you can't walk outside in shirt-sleeves to play softball, what good is the life?

Mars simply needs to be grown larger and there is loads of material out there beyond the planet Pluto that can be redirected. You can't be using Mars for target practice if you grow a colony.

Besides, engineering and mining companies grow real jobs. NASA and other government spending exists at the whim of politicians and administrations.

The latest Buzz from space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:29:47 GMT

I don't know how Buzz can realistically be a significant force in space affairs at his age. There are myriad others who are far more educated and experienced and younger who are in laying down definite paths for manned spaceflight. He just continues to bath in the limelight of being one of the first 2 on the moon.

I am sure he is a fine motivator and communicator but I think that realistically that's where it stops for him.

The latest Buzz from space

Robert Horning, Logan, Utah — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:11:47 GMT

"There are myriad others who are far more educated and experienced and younger who are in laying down definite paths for manned spaceflight."

My jaw just dropped to the floor to even see such a comment. Do you even know who Buzz Aldrin really is? Can there be anybody better educated and more experienced than this particular person, especially for somebody who actually went to the Moon, touched the soil there with his own hands, and came back to talk about it?

If there is anybody who you should at least be listening to, it is people of this generation who went there and were real explorers, going to places where mankind has never been before and making scientific discoveries that simply could never have been done with robotic spacecraft.

This is akin to saying Robert Byrd is something to be discounted with Arctic exploration and global environmental issues. Geesh! Try to read some of the books that Buzz Aldrin has written before you go off half-cocked with such a lame response, and read up about the PhDs and other "education" he has as well as the practical experience this guy brings to the table by actually going "up there".

The latest Buzz from space

Bill Banks, Gibsonton, FL — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:55:10 GMT

Has anyone ever done a computer simulated study to find out weather additional weight placed on the moon might cause an additional attraction to earth from increased gravity causing the orbit of the moon to change and crash into earth? Just a thought.

The latest Buzz from space

George Cernigliaro, Newton, MA — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:31:49 GMT

To Thomas of Calgary,

Buzz is a national resource who is much more educated on the subject than any one of us can imagine. Having been to the place now considered a prime destination by many developing nations, he has the fullest and deepest appreciation of what it really takes to get there, that the rest of us can only imagine in our dreams. Let's not forget that his life literally depended on the people who planned and built the infrastructure to get Apollo to the moon. When your life is in their hands, only then can you say you have the deepest experience of what it takes for successful space-faring. Yes, let the details be worked by others, but Buzz Aldrin could, and should, contribute actively to plans for a future in space, just as other American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts should and could, as well. This is real experience one doesn't just throw away. Besides, who of any of us, should say where "it stops", for Buzz, or anyone else? That's not the "can-do" spirit that got us to the moon in the first place.

George Cernigliaro, Newton MA USA

The latest Buzz from space

J. Craig Beasley — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:41:14 GMT

Mr. Ashby,

Aldrin earned his D.Sc. degree in Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His graduate thesis was Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous...

I'd say a doctorate in Astronautics coupled with a lifelong drive to promote space travel is a pretty good combination. If he can "communicate" that to others and maintain a technical focus, all the better.

The latest Buzz from space

Sam Frasier — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:56:48 GMT

Going to the moon is a complete waste of money.

Going to Mars should be put off until we're in a better economic position to afford such luxuries.

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OneVoice, Frederick MD — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:45:37 GMT

I think the one-way colonization of Mars is the way to go. The first visitors, however, need to be robots, not humans. Send machines there first to stockpile air, water, food, fuel and to begin construction of underground habitats. Then, when the first humans arrive, they'll be able to concentrate not on their very survival, but on building the infrastructure of community. Things like a hospital, mundane manufacturing, large scale food production, eventually schools & everything else that spells the difference between a research station and a colony.

The latest Buzz from space

Florida — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:03:32 GMT

At Least Buzz had the fortitude to have been there and done that.....and is still trying. That is a lot more than his critics can say!!!!

The latest Buzz from space

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:14:39 GMT

I wonder if his engineers are working on plans for building that growing colony on Mars. I would think that once a site is picked out that robots could start digging an area for living chambers and other needs. Practice for that could happen on the Moon. Unless the living chambers going to the Moon and Mars are so heavily sheilded from radiation, these buildings will have to be underground for a while.

The latest Buzz from space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:30:16 GMT

Robert Horning.." Do you even know who Buzz Aldrin really is?" Ya, I was 15 when he did his feat.

I speak in terms of reality. Maybe Alan should do a thread on what exactly Buzz is doing other than a lot of PR work and communications. He's a great salesman.

I want to see his actual successes on spacecraft design and manned flight planning and I want to see what the other Apollo moonwalkers/travellers are doing or have done in this realm.

The latest Buzz from space

steve smyth — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:48:50 GMT

RE Mars plans...I'll stick to my earliest suggestion...Gaia Two, filled with compost, working its magic all the way there...start the colony with micro-organisms, and gases...that's how it worked here, eh?
Then we'll see if we can avoid screwing things up before anything grows, dies, recomposts, starts creating an atmosphere, and eventually turns to petroleum...the timing should be about right...what's a couple of million years to a Cosmic Explorer?
Forge Ahead...

The latest Buzz from space

Peter Shearer, Seattle, WA — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:22:30 GMT

One way trip to Mars? Sign me up! I think I'd rather live on the Moon because it's still close enough to look into the sky and see that little planet Earth sitting there so beautiful! That and... do we know what the effects on our eyes would be living on the red planet? Constantly having red saturating our color palette?.

Anyways, I'm 25, have a college degree and have already choosen to devote my life to space exploration and colonization and I would volunteer in a heart beat for a one way trip. Let's do it!

Earth is the cradle of mankind, but we cannot stay in the cradle forever~

The latest Buzz from space

Frank Glover Rochester, NY — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:31:33 GMT

"Has anyone ever done a computer simulated study to find out weather additional weight placed on the moon might cause an additional attraction to earth from increased gravity causing the orbit of the moon to change and crash into earth? Just a thought."

If you mean adding mass (from somewhere) comparable to the Moon itself, you might have something.

If you mean the mass of any and all spacecraft and payloads *ever* likely to be landed on the Moon? Come on...

Remember, when spaceprobes use Jupiter to 'slingshot' to the outer solar system, they gain velocity at the expence of Jupiter's orbital motion. But before you worry about sending Jupiter spiraling into the inner solar system, consider that the velocity change is related to the ratio of the masses of the two objects. The change to Jupiter would be totally unmeasurable unless you were shooting planetary masses by it.

Same with this.

The latest Buzz from space

Ron, IN — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:05:10 GMT

Ahh, fly me to the Moon... It does make a good launching point.

If it were only the 60's all over again, except with Mars as our goal, instead of the Moon.

We achieved amazing things, why cant we now?

The latest Buzz from space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:33:47 GMT

I'd like to see Buzz Aldrin spend a month in the Canadian arctic with the likes of the Houghton crater Mars project.

http://www.marsonearth.org/about/crater.html

or show interest in people like Robert Zubrin.
http://www.marssociety.org/portal/author/rzubrin
I have seen Aldrin speak a number of times but I have never heard him mention Zubrin's "Mars direct" plan.

To me, Aldrin basically represents the "good 'ol boys" approach to space travel and even looks the part.

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JC, Fairbanks, AK — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:42:01 GMT

Buzz A. is definitely a personality, and a good spokesperson, but he does NOT do any science or engineering (that I know of); the idea that he is involved in such work in the US manned program I find as funny as the fact that he swung at a moon-hoaxer.

Also, though his motivational PERSONALITY tends to influence people's opinions, in reality it has no bearing on whether he is 'right' or 'wrong' (if there is such a thing in this debate...). Robert Zubrin is alsao very outspoken (to be polite about it) and is dead wrong about ALOT of things.

The manned space program needs to be torn down and rebuilt around a unified, long-term, and realistic core philosophy. Right now the successes of the unmanned program (and the scatterbrained, wrong-headed progress of the manned one) are making human spaceflight look silly. I won't rehash these successes vs. failures.

By unified I mean there has to be an overarching plan, which I think should be to establish a permanent colony on the moon. To accomplish this we must finally DUMP the romantic but flawed notion of astronauts as real explorers; remotes do this FAR better and FAR cheaper! Instead they need to train for colonizing and construction on other planets.

This needs to be a long term commitment; NASA is NOT going to get vast DoD-sized budgets any time soon, so it must do what it can, over periods of years, perhaps MANY years. If this is called by some a 'disease' so be it; shrill, pie-in-the-sky demands by some will not change this reality. This philosophy must also be stable over periods of years; moving the goalposts, not providing job security, can only result in loss of our 'best and brightest' from the space program, and huge wastes of $$.

Finally, it must be realistic; this RULES OUT any 'hail mary' mission straight to Mars. Apollo was not done that way, and that was one of the big reasons for its success: it was done in steps. OUR FIRST STEP IS TO BACK TO THE MOON!! We have a perfect testbed right up there waiting to be used! There are differences of course, but nearly ALL of the technology and technique we will need to live on Mars can be proved on Luna.

The Buzz's and Bob's of the world hate the idea, since it means THEY will NOT get to go to Mars (which is what Bob's stridency is about). But this 'rah-rah' "Mars or Bust" attitude is a formula for failure, and consequent further delay.....

The latest Buzz from space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 23:24:36 GMT

JC.."Robert Zubrin is alsao very outspoken (to be polite about it) and is dead wrong about ALOT of things."

Name one! In fact, name a few since he is wrong about "ALOT"

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Michael Ehmke, Lincoln, Nebraska — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:46:25 GMT

We can't even get along on the planet we are currently inhabiting....We barely have the resources to maintain our current standards of living....yet here we go running out into space....We haven't even explored our entire world yet.

While a little nosing around is fine at this point. I think it is imperative that we figure the current experiment out first. It is hard to draw conclusions that show it is a success. (I am talking about the planet we are currently colonizing.)

The latest Buzz from space

JC, Fairbanks, AK — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:03:39 GMT

OK, how about "the US should massively increase space travel funding, and essentially turn it over to him"; or how about "going to the Moon is a waste of time, and we should go 'direct to Mars'". How about "humans have a real role in actual planetary exploration". Need more? Look 'em up yourself.

He DOES have some good ideas for when the time comes for people to go to Mars, if it ever arrives; until then he's just a loud noise with an inflated opinion of himself and a desire to get himself to Mars on other people's dime. He and others (e.g. the Mars Soc.) are long on manic gradiosity, far short on reality. I wish what he advocates would happen. But I live in the REAL world.

The latest Buzz from space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:39:59 GMT

Well, I don't care about the funding. If the people want space travel then they can pay for it. Otherwise space travel is something that has been forced on us from the beginning and nothing more than an intention and reality carved out by the ruling class. Do I really believe that? Not really, but many do !

As long as the good ideas are put in place, I don't care how much it costs or who is paying for it and the loudeer one can speak ..the better. Maybe then people will listen.

Maybe going to the moon is waste of time and money. We already did it and I think the rocks brought back pretty much describe the moon. Other than for setting up telescopes, what good is the moon? Please don't tell me the virtues of setting up minimg operations. Thats something for science fiction.

If you really want to go to Mars, then just go there. You can do all the testing and preparation in earth orbit.

The latest Buzz from space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:14:10 GMT

JC "But I live in the REAL world. "

And what world is that? I agree Mars direct is real and all the testing can be done right above us.