Buzz Aldrin: Invest in Nasa to beat the Chinese to Mars

www.telegraph.co.uk ^ | 29/06/2008 | Tim Shipman

[Names Ash Housewares]

Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the Moon, has issued a stark warning that America must invest now in the space agency Nasa, or surrender leadership of space exploration to Russia and China.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Aldrin revealed that he intends to lobby Barack Obama and John McCain, the two US presidential candidates, in an effort to ensure they find sufficient funds for Nasa's goal to establish a permanent base on the Moon and then send a manned mission to Mars.

[Names Ash Housewares]

He's dead bang right. The nations that lead on the frontiers, dictate the course of human history. China knows that, that is why they are in the game now.

[americanophile]

Obama has already explicitly stated that he’ll cancel the Constellation program for at least 5 years if elected. So, after we retire the shuttle in 2010, we’ll have to pay the Chinese, Russians or others if we want to go into space...

[Names Ash Housewares]

I am not surprised that a liberal like Obama would be less then supportive of American space endeavors. Short sighted, vision-less, liberalism is the path to extinction.

Buzz will have a hard time reaching him. If not impossible.

Exploration and pushing forward, risk, reward, pushing back the horizon. That is what made America what it is.

Of course Obama would not value this.

[yankeedame]

I wonder. Are they?

[library user]

BTW, which country is closer to Mars? If we take off at the same time they take off and we go the same speed, who gets there first?

[saganite]

The Atlas 5 rocket is being made man capable and the program isn’t in NASA’s hands. It’s being funded privately so if the NASA funded manned rocket doesn’t get off the ground there will at least be a backup but it won’t be suited for anything other than orbital flight.

[kittycatonline.com]

Obama has already explicitly stated that he’ll cancel the Constellation program for at least 5 years if elected

Good thing JFK didn't think the same way.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Thanks to Clinton’s buddy Bernie Schwartz of Loral, that might have helped.

They are getting ready for a space walk on the their next mission.

China believes if it takes 1000 years even, they they will be the dominate nation.

[AQuietThinkingMan]

Private industry is doing some interesting things with space travel.

Elon Musk, who made a fortune by founding and selling PayPal is doing a few new companies as encores. SpaceX is using modern technology to improve commercial space travel http://spacex.com/, and Tesla Motors http://www.teslamotors.com/ produces some amazing electric super-cars.

It would probably be a lot more effective to invest in private industry than in massive government bureaucracies.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Gonna take both.

Private industry is not into long term pay off.

They need profits in a reasonable time.

Gubmint can plot far longer course for strategic purposes.

[dr_lew]

That depends on the exact time of take-off.

[Dreagon]

The Chinese? Their space program is where ours was half a century ago.

I support our space program, but I don’t think pumping up the Chinese to be some kind of fierce space competition is going to help anybodies credibility.

[eclecticEel]

Ahem, that would be NASA, and not Nasa.

[weegee]

There is no will to race for space anymore. The astronauts who laid their lives on the line were told a LIE.

[weegee]

Pastor Wright said that the moon landings were faked.

The media overlooked that bullsh*t from Obama’s pastor and mentor of 20 years.

[weegee]

China invented the rocket.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Apparantly you have not been watching “When We Left Earth” on the Discovery channel.

Commander Elleen Collins more then explained why astronauts go into space.

I put more then enough trust into her reasons and Buzz’s motivations.

The only lie is told by people that say space isn’t worth the blood and treasure.

It is.

[weegee]

Also, you mention how they are using 40 year old technology.

Our NEXT generation of shuttle systems will fall BACK to the Saturn V rocket systems of 45 years ago. And we tossed out the specs. So we are back at the drawing board and buying back old historic documents these days.

FASTER STRONGER BETTER NEWER repeat mantra ad nauseum.

Sometimes our “evolution” of design is NOT for the best.

[weegee]

I've met several men who walked on the moon. I have absolutely no doubt they went there. I have seen lengthy interviews with people on our space shuttle too.

Some interesting observations about these “alternate” environments come up. Things we don't even consider on Earth.

Anyway, every single one of them I have seen interviewed in the past 30 years has been let down by the lack of any further manned missions into outer space.

The space station does not take us deeper into space. It is “skylab XXXXXXX”. An orbiting laboratory. Nothing more.

Every 15 years or so astronauts died in their mission. Their lives WERE laid on the line. (Apollo 12, Discovery, Challenger plus men in the water tank at Johnson).

So for them to give the utmost commitment to deep space travel and see NO return for the past 3 decades of a 4.5 decade endeavor is a betrayal. Nothing but. They gave their lives for a lie.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Nobody “gave” their life.

They took risks they felt was worht it, both for personal reasons and otherwise.

Get off this “lie” garbage.

I have NEVER heard any astronaut say such a thing.

Again, you need to watch “When We Left Earth”.

Maybe you need to listen closer.

[Names Ash Housewares]

“Their lives WERE laid on the line. (Apollo 12, Discovery, Challenger plus men in the water tank at Johnson).”

You need to re-check your history, I have no idea where your going with the above.

I think you mean, Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia.

Get your facts straight.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Every 15 years or so astronauts died in their mission. . .men in the water tank at Johnson

Please elaborate. I'm a space geek and I've never heard of this. A Google search showed nothing.

[Ben Reyes]

Too late on one half of his appeal — Obama already declared that he will not allow ‘the militarization of space’ and will slash space programs funding.

[Caipirabob]

I wonder. Are they?

The Chinese going to Mars? If they are, I imagine it's filed under a name like "Project Landfill".

[Caipirabob]

The Chinese? Their space program is where ours was half a century ago.

Actually, our space program was achieving significant success about half a century ago. Today's programs are exceptionally low profile compared to the program back then.

[Gaffer]

We should be exploring space, but NASA is not the entity to head this up. NASA is overblown with paperwork, paperwork, CYA, CYA and more CYA since the Challenger. Anything they do is severely inflated cost-wise because they are risk-averse and CYA to the point of idiocy.

[Caipirabob]

We should be exploring space, but NASA is not the entity to head this up. NASA is overblown with paperwork, paperwork, CYA, CYA and more CYA since the Challenger. Anything they do is severely inflated cost-wise because they are risk-averse and CYA to the point of idiocy.

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't trust NASA to launch a bottle rocket in it's current incarnation.

They had a "jump the shark" moment with me 2003 a few months following the Columbia disaster.

It was when i read about the foam insulation that gave away and lead up to the explosion.

They had a reliable foam material they had used successfully for years, however environmentalists had pointed out the material was hazardous to the environment. So NASA replaced the material with a more environmentally friendly substance. On that particular flight the material failed completely. It lead to a horrible disaster and the death of our brave astronauts. Of course, littering the Earth with shuttle debris and human body parts wouldn't have less of an impact or didn't that enter into their plans?

I don't see trusting NASA after sacrificing our finest on the alter of environmentalism. I was done with them after that.

They should have been disbanded and reformed.

"ALL HAIL GAEA...WHOOOOSH!!!"

[Diogenesis]

America is upside down.

The DOE is only interested in the human genome, not
sources of new energy production.

NASA is only interested in global warming,
not space exploration.

The US Congress is only interested in itself, not protecting
America.

[Lockbox]

Sorry Buzz, the head of Nasa is too busy chasing Global Warming...............

[Leisler]

We should just put out an X-Prize for the first to land Americans on Mars. Say 30 billion, tax free. NASA could’t do it for 500 billion. This way we beat the Chinese and save 470 billion.

[figgers3036]

It’s not like NASA wanted to change over, because that leads to a huge cost in testing and retooling they would have rather avoided. It was a dictate by Congress, and NASA has to follow Congress’s whims. Make sure to lay blame where it’s due, it’s usually not NASA’s fault but the Congressman who would much rather bring home some pork then fund NASA.

[BallyBill]

Buzz Aldrin is the smartest person I've ever seen concerning spaceflight.

Space Week July 6-11 Science Channel, can't wait. Been a lot of good stuff on the past few weeks already.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

It was at President CLINTON’s insistance that NASA change over from Shuttle safe foam to environmentally safe foam =

“ALOHA” to Shuttle Columbia

.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

Discovery Channel’s ‘When We Left Earth’ and then its showing of Ron Howard’s ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ Motion Picture both superbly express the feelings of our hero Astronaut space explorers, then and now.

Putting the rest of us inside their hearts and minds as they boldly went where no man had gone before.

After everything, their message to us is:

Lets just make the COMMITTMENT to go “Out There” once again ..and the Planet Mars is ours.

.

[KevinDavis]

[Carpe Cerevisi]

Buzz thinks we should beat the chicoms to the punch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

[BenLurkin]

Buzz Aldrin?

Isn't he the guy who claims to have "walked on the moon"?

(just kidding)

[ovrtaxt]

Oh come on- you actually buy that hoax?

/s

[Gritty]

I've got a better idea.

Let's invest in drilling rigs and beat the Chinese to our own rich offshore Florida oil fields.

[Movemout]

the head of NASA is a friend of mine and a consistently strong supporter of real exploration. if it is humanly possible to get the train back on the track then he will do so.

[KevinDavis]

We can do both..

[SunkenCiv]

Mr Aldrin revealed that he intends to lobby Barack Obama and John McCain, the two US presidential candidates, in an effort to ensure they find sufficient funds for Nasa's goal to establish a permanent base on the Moon and then send a manned mission to Mars.

Obama will flip-flop, of course. Thanks NAH, and thanks Kevin for the ping.

[KevinDavis]

Obama wants to spend the money on “Universal Pre School”...

[Names Ash Housewares]

Sorry, I think you couldn’t be more completely wrong, and your facts are fouled up as well.

NASA does what nobody else on this planet can do over and over again.

Yes there is a down side.

Exploration IS risky. It does cost blood and national treasure. The oceans are littered with vessels of discovery that did not make it home.

We do not give up after accidents. We press on and move forward.

And you are totally incorrect on the “environmental foam” causing the Columbia disaster.

That foam was NOT used in the bipod area where the foam failed.

Why that MYTH continues on Free Republic escapes me no matter how many times attempts are made to correct it.

It is NOT factual:

http://www.sts107.info/kooks%20and%20myths/kooks.htm#EPA

Myth - Left wing environmental policies doomed the shuttle
According to some claims, EPA regulations that eliminated Freon caused the foam to fall off.
CFC-11 Freon was used to apply the Spray On Foam Insulation (SOFI) to the ET, and the formula was changed because of EPA regulations. The new method did result in more foam falling off and hitting the shuttle, most notably STS-87, which had 308 damaged tiles, but that was not the type of foam which doomed Columbia.

In the mid-1990s, the EPA banned CFC-11 Freon. NASA has many waivers from the EPA for critical items. In each case a commercial supplier is licensed to produce the limited quantities NASA needs, but it’s incredibly expensive to manufacture the relatively small quantities just for one customer. Lockheed-Martin went through a major effort to find a more environmentally friendly propellant. (It wasn’t something they wanted to do, but a necessity.) They selected HCFC 141b (Dichlorofluoroethane). HCFC 141b is only used to spray acreage foam –applied to the large cylindrical surfaces with a giant robotic sprayer.

The bipod foam which doomed Columbia was BX-250 foam, which was excluded from that EPA mandate. Technicians built the bipod by hand, layer by layer, and carved it into shape. The manufacturing process for the bipod and its chemical composition did not change and still used CFC-11. No changes to environmental regulations caused the Columbia accident.

[mysterio]

Invest in Nasa to beat the Chinese to Mars

We have more pressing concerns, like what we are going to replace oil with. Maybe NASA should work on that for a while. Once that's solved, send astronauts wherever you want.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

About 2 years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to talk with Astronaut/Moon Walker-Moon Car Driver/Columbia Space Shuttle Commander JOHN YOUNG at the Movie Premiere of “In the Shadow of the Moon” (then named “The Wonder of it All”), at it’s world premiere at a Newport Beach International Film Festival.

I shared with him our current local public promotions about America’s ‘Return to Earth’s Moon-On to Mars’ Space program to emerging Eagle Scouts. And how we Highligh for them how with the words ‘Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed’ ..Eagle Scout NEIL ARMSTRONG certainly had! An Eagle Scout being the 1st Man to land on Earth’s Moon decades ago!

Going on further now has us merely waiting to write down the name of the Eagle Scout to be the 1st Man to land on the Planet Mars early in this new century.

A dejected Astronaut JOHN YOUNG’s immediate sad response was:

“Well, we’d better hurry up because with the way this current Democrat Congress is covertly cutting funding for such manned Space missions behind the scenes,

...I will not be around to finally see it all happen”..!!!

Any questions, go to the Man who knows..!!!

.

[Nowhere Man]

Obama has already explicitly stated that he’ll cancel the Constellation program for at least 5 years if elected. So, after we retire the shuttle in 2010, we’ll have to pay the Chinese, Russians or others if we want to go into space...

Just like the Carter years when we sent not a single human into space. I would never vote for Obama anyways but this gives me one more reason to despise the man.

[VOA]

Buzz Aldrin: Invest in Nasa to beat the Chinese to Mars

I agree.
Heartily.

Even though I said less-than-kind things about NASA when they
lost those two Mars probes due to an error a diligent science
student wouldn't have made in the freshman year of college.

[Nowhere Man]

Well, Obama could always bring back NASSA: B-) B-P

Negro American Space society of Astronauts

Wallace "Suitcase" Jefferson is still alive, he was on the crew of the first Moon Landing on September 31st, 1966. He could run NASSA on a Cabinet level. B-)

[Names Ash Housewares]

No matter how hard we try we will fall sometimes.
What matters, is getting back up.