Fri, May 10, 2013
Advocates For Mars Colony At Washington, D.C. Summit
Buzz Aldrin says that "no one is excited" about NASA's planned mission to bring an asteroid into a orbit inside that of the Moon, and says the space agency should be planning to place a manned colony on Mars instead.
Speaking at a "Humans to Mars" summit in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, Aldrin called President Obama's plan to mine an asteroid a "distraction." The second man to set foot on the moon has recently published a book titled "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration".
Aldrin advocates for a permanent colony on Mars, using Phobos as a staging area and home base for the program. Aldrin says establishing a Martian colony would make mankind a "two-planted species." He envisions a scenario in which humans are constantly shuttled to Mars to expand the colony ... and the trips would be one-way.
US News reports that, at the same summit, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said that the asteroid mission is a "step" towards mars, which he called the "ultimate destination in our solar system, and a priority for NASA."
The asteroid mission would be unmanned. A robotic spacecraft would capture an as-yet-unidentified asteroid and bring it back to an orbit approximating that of the Moon. Once there, astronauts would visit the asteroid for study.
But Aldrin isn't buying it. He called the asteroid mission a "waste of time" that "excites no one." He said the mission has "turned into a whole planetary defense exercise at the cost of our outward exploration."
(Photo from file. Buzz Aldrin sets foot on the Moon)
More News
How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]
Aero Linx: International Association of Professional Gyroplane Training (IAPGT) We are an Association of people who fly, build or regulate Gyroplanes, who have a dream of a single >[...]
NORDO (No Radio) Aircraft that cannot or do not communicate by radio when radio communication is required are referred to as “NORDO.”>[...]
Also: uAvionix AV-Link, F-16 Viper Demo, TN National Guard, 'Staff the Towers' A Saturday afternoon jump run, originating from SkyDive Kansas City, went bad when it was reported th>[...]
Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) The operation of a UAS beyond the visual capability of the flight crew members (i.e., remote pilot in command [RPIC], the person manipulating th>[...]