BUZZ ALDRIN QUOTES III
American astronaut (1930- )
Space tourism will bloom very soon.... Regular tourist flights, orbital hotels--then the real payoff begins. I foresee an interplanetary cruise ship, a lunar cycler. Assembled in Earth orbit, this liner is given a powerful push--sending it on its way to the moon. The lunar cycler will undergo a cosmic dance: loop around the moon, return to Earth, slingshot around Earth, and return to the moon again. The round-trip will take just over a week. And every time the lunar cycler swings by Earth, it'll be met by a supply ferry, maybe even restocked with champagne, and boarded by a fresh group of travelers.
BUZZ ALDRIN
Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration
I was saddened to learn of the passing of Leonard Nimoy, a fellow space traveler because he helped make the journey into the final frontier accessible to us all.... Indeed, there are strange new worlds to explore -- to seek out new life and start new civilizations. It is time to boldly go where no man -- or woman -- has gone before. Thanks to Leonard Nimoy and his beloved Mr. Spock, the bar has been set high for us to continue humanity's quest to probe outward in the universe.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"Buzz Aldrin: Leonard Nimoy, my fellow space traveler", CNN, February 28, 2015
iPhones compute more than what we had for Apollo but if I throw them in the air will they do a star sighting?
BUZZ ALDRIN
Twitter post, March 5, 2015
I believe that space travel will one day become as common as airline travel is today. I'm convinced, however, that the true future of space travel does not lie with government agencies -- NASA is still obsessed with the idea that the primary purpose of the space program is science -- but real progress will come from private companies competing to provide the ultimate adventure ride, and NASA will receive the trickle-down benefits.
BUZZ ALDRIN
Magnificent Desolation
Did the Pilgrims on the Mayflower sit around Plymouth Rock waiting for a return trip? They came here to settle. And that's what we should be doing on Mars. When you go to Mars, you need to have made the decision that you're there permanently. The more people we have there, the more it can become a sustaining environment. Except for very rare exceptions, the people who go to Mars shouldn't be coming back. Once you get on the surface, you're there.
BUZZ ALDRIN
Vanity Fair, Jul. 2010
If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.
BUZZ ALDRIN
attributed, Rise Against Hunger
I was involved, like John Glenn and some of the other astronauts, with a particular church. So I felt it was appropriate for me to demonstrate my Christian background [by taking Communion on the moon]. Today, my philosophy is more like what Albert Einstein called a cosmic sense of a greater power involved in the creation of the universe. It's very nonspecific.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"Buzz Aldrin Hates Being Called the Second Man on the Moon", National Geographic, April 18, 2016
Since I returned from the moon, I had felt taken advantage of, exploited as people wanted to use my fame for their own purposes. From then on, any time that I felt the "system" was taking unfair advantage of me and my fame -- whether by individuals, companies, organizations, or the military -- to deal with those growing resentments, I turned increasingly to alcohol. The demons in my mind tossed up questions such as: What did I get for serving my country all these years? I'm being relegated to playing the hero, and everyone wants a piece of me. But will they listen to my ideas? Will they value what I can offer for the future?
BUZZ ALDRIN
Magnificent Desolation
Inspiring kids to dream big is important to me. Today's kids will be carrying out Mars missions.
BUZZ ALDRIN
Twitter post, May 19, 2016
Mars could very well be a staging location for the resources of the asteroid belt. We have to learn how to get a payback somewhere, but it's beyond Mars that the real payoff will come from minerals.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"Why Mars Beats the Moon -- And Everything Else Buzz Aldrin Told Us", The Slow Journalism Company, September 3, 2014
When we set out to land people on the surface of Mars, I think we should as a nation, as a world, commit ourselves to supporting a growing settlement and colonization there. To visit a few times and then withdraw would be an unforgivable waste of resources.
BUZZ ALDRIN
interview, Scholastic, Nov. 17, 1998
For every winner, there's a loser. And that person didn't really need to lose. They just didn't understand the game plan.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"What I've Learned", Esquire, January 2003
Only a large-volume market like space travel can attack the barrier of high costs.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"Buzz Aldrin proposes a future for space travel", MIT Tech Talk, October 6, 1999
Did the Pilgrims on the Mayflower sit around Plymouth Rock waiting for a return ship to England? Absolutely not! They traveled to the New World to settle. And that's what I hope we will be doing on Mars. When you go to Mars, you need to have made the decision that you're there permanently. The more people we have there, the more it can become a sustainable environment.
BUZZ ALDRIN
No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon
As time goes by, I'm increasingly impressed by how very special and timely it was that we got the degree of national commitment needed to put people on the Moon. For the first time, this nation was united in trying to develop an interplanetary capability. We've been trying to repeat that situation ever since.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"Buzz Aldrin 20 Years On", OMNI, July 1, 1989
I use plane rides to write down my thoughts. Such as figuring out radial distance plots for Mars missions.
BUZZ ALDRIN
Twitter post, June 3, 2016
The government is going to be strongly involved in going to Mars, but they will be relying more and more on contracting industry and telling them what we want. Then the private sector will be in charge of making it happen. But the prescription will not be, "Hey, Elon, go do what you want."
BUZZ ALDRIN
interview, "Legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin lays out his hopes for colonizing Mars", TechCrunch, April 11, 2016
Oh, sure, I've come close to dying a few times, but usually I was having so much fun at the time that I barely noticed the danger.
BUZZ ALDRIN
No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked on the Moon
I was given permission to serve myself Communion, with wine and a wafer, on the surface on the Moon. But I was advised not to say anything about it at the time. Someone had strongly objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Bible. We didn't want to get into any further trouble with the religious critics.
BUZZ ALDRIN
The Big Issue, Sep. 10, 2013
After we got back, I wasn't prepared to be in the public eye. I traveled around the world and met many people. At one point, we visited 23 countries in 45 days. I also thought that going to the moon couldn't be topped. So I left NASA and returned to the Air Force. But I don't think the Air Force knew what to do with someone who went to the moon.
BUZZ ALDRIN
"Buzz Aldrin: Down to Earth", Psychology Today, May/June 2001