Aldrin backs Mars mission

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-20 08:28

HONG KONG: NASA should focus on sending a man to Mars and helping other nations travel in space, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin said on Friday.

Former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin poses beside a historic photograph of himself at an exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the moon landing at the Space Museum in Hong Kong June 19, 2009. The photo was taken by fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong in 1969 during the first moon landing. [Agencies]

Aldrin, who was the second man to set foot on the moon after Neil Armstrong, was speaking at the launch of a three-day exhibition at the Hong Kong Space Museum celebrating the moon landing. The 40th anniversary of the landing falls on July 21.

He said the US space agency needed to stop concentrating on simply developing new rockets and turn its attention to visiting the neighboring planet.

"I think our resources should... be on a pathway that can lead us to Mars," he said.

Aldrin added that when the Apollo 11 crew returned from their mission and began touring the world, they realized the sense of achievement did not belong only to them.

"We spoke to many people in different countries and they said, 'We did it'," said Aldrin. "These quests to space are capable of unifying people to see the successes of the human race."

"I think the moon needs to be visited by nations with space programs that have not realized that point yet," he said. "[The US] can help them do that, with our experience."

The 79-year-old recently opened an account on the social networking site Twitter to promote the 40th anniversary of man's landing on moon. He currently has more than 3,000 followers.

When asked what he would have tweeted to the world after walking on the moon, Aldrin smiled and said, "I can't wait to get home."

AFP

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