Aldrin: First Man On Mars 'Shouldn't Come Back'

[EC]

Any takers?

Buzz Aldrin says the first people to land on Mars should never return to Earth.

The second man to set foot on the moon was asked about the possibility of a permanent human presence on the red planet during an online question and answer session.

He was asked specifically about SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who believes people could visit Mars within a decade.

Aldrin said: "I have considered whether a landing on Mars could be done by the private sector.

"It conflicts with my very strong idea, concept, conviction, that the first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth.

"They should be the beginning of a build-up of a colony or settlement. I call it a permanence."

He added: "To have an individual company, no matter how smart, send people to mars and bring them back, it is very, very expensive. It delays the obtaining of permanence."

He said that some people would call it a "suicide mission", but he disagreed saying: "Not me! Not at all."

There would be no shortage of volunteers for a one-way trip to Mars.

Mars One - a non-profit organisation hoping to create a settlement on Mars by 2023 - received 200,000 applications for volunteers to travel to the red planet and never come back.

The 84-year-old was answering questions on Reddit to mark the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20.

He also told how impressed he was with the movie Gravity, describing it as "thrilling", and said he "doesn't waste very much time" on conspiracy theorists who believe the moon landing was faked

http://news.sky.com/story/1297741/aldrin-first-man-on-mars-shouldnt-come-back

[Dexter]

Filling out an online application to what sounds cool at the time and actually accepting the gravity of such a decision are very different things. I'm not saying some wouldn't still go, but methinks that application number would go down a little bit once people started thinking about what it truly means to leave Earth and never come back. If you did make it and successfully colonize Mars, though, I'd be willing to bet that we'd quickly develop the technology to more efficiently travel to and possibly even from Mars.

I personally think developing Earth to orbit aircraft is going to be a key part of more easily exploring space. The reason these pioneers would be stranded on Mars forever is we wouldn't have the infrastructure there to blast another spacecraft into space and back to Earth. If we had spacecraft that could take off and touch down without all of that hassle it would make it a lot more plausible to go both ways.

[Chieftain]

"When he reached the New World, Cortez burned his ships. As a result, his men were well motivated."-- Capt. Marco Ramius, The Hunt for Red October

 

[GourmetDan]

Try a permanent presence on the moon first.

If that works out, then you can think about Mars.

This is just fantasy brought about by reading too many sci-fi paperbacks...

[Chieftain]

Try a permanent presence on the moon first.

If that works out, then you can think about Mars.

This is just fantasy brought about by reading too many sci-fi paperbacks...

We really should be working on both.  Lots of good reasons for permanent habitation of the moon and Mars, but we need to get out of Low Earth Orbit first...

[Dexter]

We really should be working on both.  Lots of good reasons for permanent habitation of the moon and Mars, but we need to get out of Low Earth Orbit first...

Indeed. Lots of resources out there in space, not to mention the fact that leaps in technology and our understanding of the universe tend to improve the lives of all humans.

[jmyrlefuller]

The moon is of little use to us. No water, no atmosphere, and a compositional makeup that simply doesn't support life. Such a habitat would require constant upkeep and resupply from Earth.

Now Mars, on the other hand, has a little atmosphere, particularly of the CO2 that is required for plant life, and appears to have frozen water as well. Theoretically, all it would take to maintain life on Mars is a way to pressurize some of that atmosphere.

[Oceander]

The moon is of little use to us. No water, no atmosphere, and a compositional makeup that simply doesn't support life. Such a habitat would require constant upkeep and resupply from Earth.

Now Mars, on the other hand, has a little atmosphere, particularly of the CO2 that is required for plant life, and appears to have frozen water as well. Theoretically, all it would take to maintain life on Mars is a way to pressurize some of that atmosphere.

crash land some comets on the surface

[EC]

crash land some comets on the surface

Been reading the Red Mars series again? 

[Oceander]

Been reading the Red Mars series again? 

don't rightly remember where I read about it, but something like that.

[EC]

At the risk of a thread derail - you read "Farmer in the Sky" yet?

[Oceander]

At the risk of a thread derail - you read "Farmer in the Sky" yet?

I read it many, many moons ago.  should probably read it again.

[kevindavis007]

Been reading the Red Mars series again? 

I have read the Red Mars series, it was good until it turned into socialism propaganda..

[kevindavis007]

Any takers?

Buzz Aldrin says the first people to land on Mars should never return to Earth.

The second man to set foot on the moon was asked about the possibility of a permanent human presence on the red planet during an online question and answer session.

He was asked specifically about SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who believes people could visit Mars within a decade.

Aldrin said: "I have considered whether a landing on Mars could be done by the private sector.

"It conflicts with my very strong idea, concept, conviction, that the first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth.

"They should be the beginning of a build-up of a colony or settlement. I call it a permanence."

He added: "To have an individual company, no matter how smart, send people to mars and bring them back, it is very, very expensive. It delays the obtaining of permanence."

He said that some people would call it a "suicide mission", but he disagreed saying: "Not me! Not at all."

There would be no shortage of volunteers for a one-way trip to Mars.

Mars One - a non-profit organisation hoping to create a settlement on Mars by 2023 - received 200,000 applications for volunteers to travel to the red planet and never come back.

The 84-year-old was answering questions on Reddit to mark the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20.

He also told how impressed he was with the movie Gravity, describing it as "thrilling", and said he "doesn't waste very much time" on conspiracy theorists who believe the moon landing was faked

http://news.sky.com/story/1297741/aldrin-first-man-on-mars-shouldnt-come-back

By the way I would sign up and stay on Mars. However, I prefer to go to Alpha Centuari..

[Chieftain]

By the way I would sign up and stay on Mars. However, I prefer to go to Alpha Centuari..

That's right in the neighborhood....where's your vision??  I'd much rather be the first guy to get a clear unobstructed view of the Galactic Core.  Figure at least 35-40 light years one way to get high enough above the ecliptic to finally see what's on the other side, and maybe see what the Great Annihilator looks like, from a distance of course......

 

[kevindavis007]

That's right in the neighborhood....where's your vision??  I'd much rather be the first guy to get a clear unobstructed view of the Galactic Core.  Figure at least 35-40 light years one way to get high enough above the ecliptic to finally see what's on the other side, and maybe see what the Great Annihilator looks like, from a distance of course......

 

Meh, that is nothing, to me the ultimate voyage is go to a different galaxy..  Like the Andromeda galaxy.. 

[Chieftain]

Meh, that is nothing, to me the ultimate voyage is go to a different galaxy..  Like the Andromeda galaxy..

yah, but if you wait long enough Andromeda will be moving in to the Milky Way....a few million years or so, but it is on the way.....

I've been reading some Vernor Vinge lately so I have technological singularity on the brain right now.......

 

[EC]

yah, but if you wait long enough Andromeda will be moving in to the Milky Way....a few million years or so, but it is on the way.....

I've been reading some Vernor Vinge lately so I have technological singularity on the brain right now.......

 

Which one? I adore Marooned in Realtime. It's fascinating and addresses something that never normally comes up.

[Chieftain]

Which one? I adore Marooned in Realtime. It's fascinating and addresses something that never normally comes up.

Just finished "A Fire upon the Deep" and just started "Children of the Sky"...

[Dexter]

yah, but if you wait long enough Andromeda will be moving in to the Milky Way....a few million years or so, but it is on the way.....

I've been reading some Vernor Vinge lately so I have technological singularity on the brain right now.......

 

It'll actually be about 4 billion years before we collide. There is so much empty space between stars that they will mostly just pass by each other without issue, and the gravity from the larger galaxy (Andromeda) will steal most of the stars from our Milky Way and create a much larger galaxy.

[jmyrlefuller]

It'll actually be about 4 billion years before we collide. There is so much empty space between stars that they will mostly just pass by each other without issue, and the gravity from the larger galaxy (Andromeda) will steal most of the stars from our Milky Way and create a much larger galaxy.

And by that point the sun will have morphed into a red giant and either swallowed Earth whole or at least destroyed everything on it.

[Dexter]

And by that point the sun will have morphed into a red giant and either swallowed Earth whole or at least destroyed everything on it.

Very possibly true. Our sun has another 4-6 billion years of life left, and before it dies its corona will expand and swallow up the planets close to it. It's very possible Earth will survive this, but pretty much impossible that any forms of life will. Our atmosphere will be completely gone and Earth will be a volcanic nightmare. If we haven't destroyed ourselves by then we will most assuredly have colonized elsewhere in the universe. Humans as they are have only been around for a couple hundred thousand years. Can you imagine what we could do with another 4 billion?

[Oceander]

Still and all, starting with Mars is a good idea - every journey of a thousand light years starts with a single step (of several million miles).

[Dexter]

every journey of a thousand light years starts with a single step (of several million miles).

 

How will we ever get out of our solar system/galaxy if we can't even reach the closest planet to us? The future of humanity lies in interstellar travel. We may never live to see those days, but it is our responsibility to do our part in getting there.