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Buzz Aldrin calls for manned flight to Mars to overcome global problems
The Telegraph ^ | 7/3/2009 | Richard Alleyne

Posted on 07/05/2009 3:26:44 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

The NASA astronaut Buzz Adrin has called for the world to press on with establishing a human settlement on Mars to offer the younger generation much-needed objectives.

The second person to walk on the moon said that setting up habitation on the surface of the red planet was a "wonderful objective" for humanity.


Buzz Aldrin on the moon, 1969

Given the backdrop of the ailing world economy, space exploration could offer younger generations much-needed goals, the 79-year-old said.

"I think we need to look quite a way down into the future to inspire our young people with that greatness.

"America helped to take the world to the moon 40 years ago and America certainly can help lead the world in the direction of Mars."

After he entered the history books Dr Aldrin said he struggled through a dark time during which he did not know what he should be doing with his life.

He battled depression and alcoholism, but has now been sober for 30 years and married to his wife Lois for 23 years.

The former astronaut said he was aware he had a unique perspective on the universe and had tried to share this with others.

"Not that many people have been on the moon and that's why I have written two children's books and I am involved in modern communication with a website and Twitter," he said.

"I try and communicate with people - recently I got together with a few experts and did a rap session that you can download."

But while trying to spread the word about the possibilities of space, Dr Aldrin said he was sceptical of climate change theories.

"I think the climate has been changing for billions of years," he said.

"If it's warming now, it may

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: astronauts; buzzadrin; mars; nasa

1 posted on 07/05/2009 3:26:44 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
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To: bruinbirdman
After he entered the history books Dr Aldrin said he struggled through a dark time during which he did not know what he should be doing with his life.

He battled depression and alcoholism, but has now been sober for 30 years and married to his wife Lois for 23 years.

A sufferer from "is there all there is"-osis.

2 posted on 07/05/2009 3:28:43 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Don't blame me -- I use Linux.)
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To: bruinbirdman

“is there all there is”-osis => “is this all there is”-osis


3 posted on 07/05/2009 3:29:09 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Don't blame me -- I use Linux.)
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To: bruinbirdman

Tell it to the guyz in the ‘hood, or La Raza, or CAIR, that we should drop our differences because whitey is going to the moon. Sorry, it won’t change a thing.


4 posted on 07/05/2009 3:29:10 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine (Is /sarc really necessary?)
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To: bruinbirdman
Buzz also thinks Al Gore is full of hooey.
5 posted on 07/05/2009 3:29:19 PM PDT by WrightOnTarget
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To: bruinbirdman
The NASA astronaut Buzz Adrin has called for the world to press on with establishing a human settlement on Mars to offer the younger generation much-needed objectives.

Buzz off.

6 posted on 07/05/2009 3:29:56 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all. -- Texas Eagle)
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To: bruinbirdman

I think that sending a man to Mars might solve a lot of the world’s problems... As long as the man was Barney Frank or Henry Waxman.


7 posted on 07/05/2009 3:30:08 PM PDT by Brilliant
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To: KevinDavis

Space Ping


8 posted on 07/05/2009 3:30:08 PM PDT by JerseyJohn61 (Better Late Than Never.......sometimes over lapping is worth the effort....)
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To: bruinbirdman

Shows to go ya — one can travel a million miles from earth and not get any closer to heaven.


9 posted on 07/05/2009 3:30:25 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Don't blame me -- I use Linux.)
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To: bruinbirdman

He has always seemed like a good guy. From the headline I thought he went nuts and said something like Mars could cure overpopulation or something


10 posted on 07/05/2009 3:30:32 PM PDT by GeronL (freeping on a PS3)
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To: bruinbirdman

"Get your ass to Mars!"

11 posted on 07/05/2009 3:33:24 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: bruinbirdman

Lets’ see. A big PROJECT. A project that REACHES INTO THE SKY. A project that will UNITE HUMANITY.

Somehow, I feel as though I’ve heard of this before.


12 posted on 07/05/2009 3:34:41 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: bruinbirdman

It would mean another major jump in Science and technology as the Apollo project basically created the conditions for Silicon valley to form.


13 posted on 07/05/2009 3:34:42 PM PDT by John Will
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To: Pearls Before Swine

Exactly. As long as there are humans, there will always be issues and problems and escaping them NOR wishing them away will never be the solution.

The only earth bound solution for the bleeding hearts would be to light up a chiba’ or drink heavily.


14 posted on 07/05/2009 3:35:45 PM PDT by max americana
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To: bruinbirdman
I liked this comment on the linked site.

Proof that Al Gore doesn't know Jack Schmitt.

15 posted on 07/05/2009 3:36:19 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: John Will
Like Scotty said, however, "Ye canna' change the laws of physics."

An expedition to Mars would face a hazard that no Moon mission did -- prolonged exposure to the hard radiation of deep space. Finding out that our Mars-bound astronauts were all coming down with fatal cancers before they could even get there would be no fun at all.

16 posted on 07/05/2009 3:41:22 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Don't blame me -- I use Linux.)
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To: bruinbirdman

One of my favorite Buzz moments was when he decked Bart Sibrel for calling Buzz “A coward a liar, and a thief”. The word ‘thief’ was said as Sibrel’s head was recoiling from the blow. Beautiful.


17 posted on 07/05/2009 3:45:19 PM PDT by Spirochete (Texas is an anagram for Taxes)
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To: bruinbirdman

Its a first step but to truely overcome many of our problems private industry needs to go and make it proffitable.


18 posted on 07/05/2009 3:47:11 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: cripplecreek
Its a first step but to truely overcome many of our problems private industry needs to go and make it proffitable.

There's nothing profitable in space. There's no reason at all to go there except seeing things first hand.

All of the other worlds in our solar system are frozen or semi-molten hell holes littered with rocks.

All the resources in space exist here on Earth and can be accessed more profitably.

19 posted on 07/05/2009 3:59:30 PM PDT by Spirochete (Texas is an anagram for Taxes)
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To: bruinbirdman

Maybe we should simply launch all Congresscritters who have been in office for more than 10 years. One or more of them are likely to make it to Mars.


20 posted on 07/05/2009 3:59:56 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Sheilding a craft against radiation is easy, getting a lead lined spacecraft to orbit is a bit tougher.


21 posted on 07/05/2009 4:00:30 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: bruinbirdman
Ok, I'm a tad confused, just how is going to Mars going to fix global problems.

Martians have the answers ???

22 posted on 07/05/2009 4:03:40 PM PDT by Popman (Joe Biden REALLY can't be Vice President, can he ?)
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To: bruinbirdman

The problem with establishing a colony on Mars is that Mars has only a very weak magnetic field and the cosmic rays from the sun would kill you.


23 posted on 07/05/2009 4:03:59 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Socialism is the belief that most people are better off if everyone was equally poor and miserable.)
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To: Spirochete

And we blame the libtards for America’s apathy.


24 posted on 07/05/2009 4:04:20 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: bruinbirdman

Mars?! And this will bring peace? LOL!! Just gives us another battlefield.


25 posted on 07/05/2009 4:04:31 PM PDT by WKUHilltopper
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Yeah that’s the big one as I see it. pretty much have to go underground.


26 posted on 07/05/2009 4:06:04 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: cripplecreek

The radiation stopping power of any material is proportional to its mass. There is nothing special about lead except that it is pretty dense. All of this added to the distance spells a truly gargantuan craft. Meanwhile, we can send all the robots we please to Mars now in a reasonably sized vessel.


27 posted on 07/05/2009 4:06:11 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Don't blame me -- I use Linux.)
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To: bruinbirdman

What about the UFO bases on the dark side of the moon?
Have they complied with this?


28 posted on 07/05/2009 4:08:21 PM PDT by mowowie
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To: Arthur McGowan

Yes. Yes, you have.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%2011:1-9;&version=9;

Genesis 11:1-9 (King James Version)

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.


29 posted on 07/05/2009 4:10:20 PM PDT by F15Eagle (1 John 5:4-5, 4:15, John 11:25, 14:6, 1 Tim 2:5, John 3:17-18, John 20:31, 1 John 5:13, John 6:69)
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To: mowowie
What about the UFO bases on the dark side of the moon?

There is no dark side of moon really, as a matter of fact, it's all dark.

30 posted on 07/05/2009 4:10:33 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: cripplecreek
I'm just stating fact. The only resources in space are carbonaceous condrites, and various grades of stony and nickel-iron asteroids. A weak case could be made for undiluted sunlight. That's about it - sunlight and rocks.

Any company trying to make a profit exploiting those is going to get its butt kicked.

That leaves us with space tourism, which will be (and is) outrageously expensive in the early years.

31 posted on 07/05/2009 4:13:10 PM PDT by Spirochete (Texas is an anagram for Taxes)
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To: Spirochete

OK fine whatever you say. LOL


32 posted on 07/05/2009 4:16:12 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: bruinbirdman

I’ve said much the same for years.

The 60’s were heady years because we, as a nation, spent a lot of time and energy focused on achieving a big goal that transcended all of us.

That got lost as soon a Presidents Johnson put forth the goal of destroying the Black family through his Great Society, and huge amounts of money, time, and national focus got redirected to achieve that goal.

Both goals have been met, but I still feel a burst of pride when thinking about the moon landings, much less about the destruction of the Black families.


33 posted on 07/05/2009 4:22:36 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (Overproduction, one of the top five worries for the American farmer.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Not to mention the temperature swing from the thin atmosphere. Sure they had chutes on the lander package but they still used retro rockets.


34 posted on 07/05/2009 4:25:38 PM PDT by F15Eagle (1 John 5:4-5, 4:15, John 11:25, 14:6, 1 Tim 2:5, John 3:17-18, John 20:31, 1 John 5:13, John 6:69)
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To: dfwgator
What about the UFO bases on the dark side of the moon?

There is no dark side of moon really, as a matter of fact, it's all dark.

Actually isn't the side that faces us darker than the side that faces away from us?

35 posted on 07/05/2009 4:34:25 PM PDT by InABunkerUnderSF (California -- Ya es como Mexico)
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To: bruinbirdman

I would rather develop a plan to mine asteroids.


36 posted on 07/05/2009 4:44:15 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: Vince Ferrer
I would rather develop a plan to mine asteroids.

Yeah that's where I see the real value.
37 posted on 07/05/2009 4:49:33 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: cripplecreek

And just what are we going to get that way, that won’t be far cheaper to get directly on terra firma?


38 posted on 07/05/2009 4:50:49 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Don't blame me -- I use Linux.)
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To: Texas Eagle

I think its a great idea. We should press ahead asap. Civilisations grow by doing things, not hunkering down.


39 posted on 07/05/2009 4:57:23 PM PDT by Vanders9
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To: Spirochete

But it cant be all about profit - and anyway, how do you know what is or isnt out there? Mars has a bigger surface land area than Earth does.


40 posted on 07/05/2009 4:59:53 PM PDT by Vanders9
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To: Spirochete

Theres zero-g. Thats very useful. Theres lots of Hydrogen.


41 posted on 07/05/2009 5:03:51 PM PDT by Vanders9
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To: HiTech RedNeck

It might be cheaper NOW, but that is going to change. Im not talking expense in just dollars and cents either.


42 posted on 07/05/2009 5:05:39 PM PDT by Vanders9
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To: Vanders9
But it cant be all about profit - and anyway ...

It *is* all about profit. If its not profitable, it won't be done, at least not by corporations. They exist to make a profit.

I'm as fascinated by space science as academics are, but lets not kid ourselves. All of this 'spirit of exploration' stuff is wishful thinking.

Europeans explored and exploited new lands for profit and not for some lofty goal - there was profitable stuff in those lands. There's nothing in space that can't be gotten here more profitably.

43 posted on 07/05/2009 5:17:43 PM PDT by Spirochete (Texas is an anagram for Taxes)
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To: Spirochete

Short-termism type profit will be the death of us all...

Look, by that logic, all R&D should be stopped. It hardly ever turns a profit.

How can you say there’s nothing in space that cant be gotten here more profitably? We have no certain idea of what is out there.


44 posted on 07/05/2009 5:29:27 PM PDT by Vanders9
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To: Vanders9
How can you say there’s nothing in space that cant be gotten here more profitably?

I'm not 100% certain. Based on probe results, only about 99% certain.

We have no certain idea of what is out there.

I'm certain there's a lot of desolation and rock-littered landscapes. There may be interesting items and exotic commodities, but an abundance of rocks I'm certain.

Space colonization will never be profit-driven.

45 posted on 07/05/2009 5:39:31 PM PDT by Spirochete (Texas is an anagram for Taxes)
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To: Vanders9

We need to dump the outer space treaty to make profit a possibility. As things stand now, there’s no reason for a corporation to spend money on space aside from communications satellites.


46 posted on 07/05/2009 5:41:29 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: bruinbirdman
i know several liberals and even a few republicans I would like to send to Mars on a one way ticket. Pelosi, Obama, Ried, Chucky S,Durbin, Boxer, Crist, Sanford, Ensing , Vitter, Perry ( just casue i don't like him), Mccain, Kucinich (he should feel at home there anyway), Specter, graham, Pat leahay anyone else i missed? lol
47 posted on 07/05/2009 6:01:28 PM PDT by mrsixpack36
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To: All

The Moon revolves around the Earth, but does not rotate
as the Earth does. As a result, the Moon goes through
light and dark phases. A Lunar month, which is roughly
29 days, is also the length of a Lunar day and night.

When the CLOSE SIDE is fully lit (Full Moon), the
FAR SIDE is totally dark. Same thing with a New Moon,
that is when the far side is fully lit and the Moon
is above us in daylight hours and invisible to us.

JJ61


48 posted on 07/05/2009 6:14:51 PM PDT by JerseyJohn61 (Better Late Than Never.......sometimes over lapping is worth the effort....)
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To: Brilliant

Ha, ha, why stop there? We could come up with a huge list of potential Mars travelers.

Anybody who climbs on a government rocket these days, is not paying attention to how screwed up it is. Our current gov’t couldn’t plan and execute a 2-car funeral.


49 posted on 07/05/2009 6:55:11 PM PDT by Pining_4_TX
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Comment #50 Removed by Moderator

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