“Any time an Apollo-era astronaut steps forward with ideas for our future in space, it’s time to stop what whatever we’re doing and pay attention. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first moonwalkers, has no shortage of these ideas. And in Mission to Mars he treats us to how, when, and why we should travel there.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson Legendary "space statesman" Buzz Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. As a pioneering astronaut who first set foot on the moon during mankind's first landing of Apollo 11--and as an aerospace engineer who designed an orbital rendezvous technique critical to future planetary landings--Aldrin has a vision, and in this book he plots out the path he proposes, taking humans to Mars by 2035. Foreword by Andrew Aldrin Chapter 1: The View from Air Force One Chapter 2: Time for Decision-making Chapter 3: Your Space: Building the Business Case Chapter 4: Dreams of My Moon Chapter 5: Voyage to Armageddon Chapter 6: The March to Mars Chapter 7: Homesteading the Red Planet Chapter 8: The Clarion Call
Legendary Man, Solid Vision. Often lost in the fact that Buzz Aldrin was on the first team to land on the moon and the second man to step foot on the moon is the fact that he actually had a PhD - from MIT no less - before that legendary accomplishment. Here, this former fighter pilot and lifelong engineer lays out a comprehensive vision to make humanity a dual planet species forevermore. Reading it several years after publication and just weeks before the 50th anniversary of his walk on the moon - an anniversary Aldrin repeatedly says would be a prime day for a definitive "We Choose To Go To The Moon" speech regarding Mars - it is interesting to see how this vision has been followed (or more accurately, not) over the last several years and how fiction (specifically, The Martian by Andy Weir) has actually hewed closer to Aldrin's vision than NASA or the various real-world space agencies and corporations have. Very highly recommended.
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27 May, 2019:
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