No Buzz: Aldrin Trashes Obama Asteroid Mission

USNews ^ | 5/8/13 | Jason Koebler

[LibWhacker]

The Apollo-era astronaut says NASA should be working manned Mars missions

The second man to set foot on the moon wants to see NASA send people further into space than he ever traveled. Buzz Aldrin trashed NASA's plan to bring an asteroid into lunar orbit in a speech, advocating for a Mars colony.

Aldrin, who recently published the book "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration," said at the Washington, D.C. Humans to Mars summit Wednesday that President Barack Obama's asteroid mining plan is merely a distraction.

"Bringing an asteroid back to Earth? What's that have to do with space exploration?" he asked. "If we were moving outward from there and an asteroid is a good stopping point, then fine. But now it's turned into a whole planetary defense exercise at the cost of our outward exploration."

The Apollo-era astronaut, now 83, has devised a plan to "cycle" spacecraft to Mars, continually launching humans to the red planet to expand on its colony. Aldrin advocates using Phobos, a moon of Mars, as a sort of home base for landing on the planet.

"Going to Mars means permanence, we'd become a two planet species. In Mars, we've been given a wonderful set of moons … where we can send continuous numbers of people," he said. The trips would be one-way.

"Their ultimate destination will be six feet under Mars," he said.

[from occupied ga]

The Apollo-era astronaut, now 83, has devised a plan to "cycle" spacecraft to Mars, continually launching humans to the red planet to expand on its colony. Aldrin advocates using Phobos, a moon of Mars, as a sort of home base for landing on the planet.

No doubt at a staggering expense paid for by the taxpayers who in the government employee mindset have nothing better to do with their money than fund the unworkable fantasies of said government employees Let the senile old f@rt keep his hands off my money.

[Truth29]

Obama’s space initiatives are nothing but empty rhetoric and misdirection to assure the disassembly cancellation of the US space program IMO. Obama cannot have a source of national pride for a US High Frontier and would much rather see anything accomplished by anyone but the US.

[equaviator]

If Led Zeppelin can say no to Clinton then Buzz Aldrin can say no to Obama.

[cripplecreek]

"Bringing an asteroid back to Earth? What's that have to do with space exploration?"

Bringing an asteroid back to orbit earth has its own advantages. I'm all for doing both and possibly combining them. (Give the aspiring asteroid miners a place to start)

Maybe adjusting the orbits of a series of asteroids for near passes of earth and mars for transportation purposes. Drop cargo on the surface as it passes earth and when it approaches mars the cargo could be launched for a landing on that end.

[Diogenesis]

Poor Buzz. Off reservation again.

The ONLY purpose of NASA now is to help Moslem esteem
and to put jihad and death into orbit.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Buzz was part of that brief moment in history when computers had gotten just good enough to enable men fly to the moon, but were not yet good enough to make the men unnecessary.

[WhiskeyX]

Aldrin’s comments raise some difficult questions. Foremost is the question of whether or not the human colonization of Mars is a greater or lesser priority than the colonization of the Solar System’s asteroids?The asteroids taken as a whole provide more economical access, more readily accessible and life critical resources, There is also an advantage to not having so many people in one habitat in the event of a extinction leveel catastrophe. By contrast, Mars presents a number of problems with gravity and a thin atmosphere that make it perhaps a less attractive and lower priority objective for permanent human colonization.

[DManA]

There’s no where to go Buzz. Without some kind of revolution in physics we are super glued to this solar system.

[Rapscallion]

"Bringing an asteroid back to Earth? What's that have to do with space exploration?"

Guarantees complete bankruptcy of the US. Ask yourself why.

[DManA]

None that aren't 1000X more accessible on Earth.

The asteroids taken as a whole provide more economical access, more readily accessible and life critical resources

[mvpel]

Okay, so the problems with Mars are gravity and thin atmosphere, but the asteroids are better? Say what??

[cripplecreek]

Yeah, I think the asteroids themselves could ease the path to colonizing mars not to mention providing material.

[Mr. K]

That was really uncalled for.

This man is a National Treasure- he was in the first flight to land on the moon, with no more computer power than what we have in a common wristwatch

[WhiskeyX]

Yes and no. Yes, private commerce should bear the vast majority of the costs and reap the majority of the rewards for the human colonization of extraterrestrial habitats. No, there is a vital and necessary role, limited though it should be, for the government to promote, protect, and defend the private human colonization of space before another Extinction Level Event (ELE) reoccurs before humans can secure their cultural survival in extraterrestrial habitats. Humans have a limited time opportunity to pride for the survival of the species. It remains to be seen who among the human species is up to the task of fulfilling the responsibility.

[Old Sarge]

"He jus' be wantin' tuh git Neil's flag back off'n Mars!
Whut y'all laughin' at? Yoo mus' be racis'!"

[Old Sarge]

NASA's official response to an ELE:

"Inshallah..."

[WhiskeyX]

Such a plan is exceedingly dangerous. Anyone who has deveeloped the capability to reposition an asteroid into an Earth orbit or a Lunar orbit has the capability to cause a deliberate or an non-deliberate Extinction Level Event (ELE) on the Earth with an asteroid impact on the Earth/

Moving an asteroid into a Lunar orbit offers some definite advantages, but it also creates a risk of catastrophic damage to human habitats on the Moon in the event the asteroid’s orbit should decay due to collision with another asteroid, Solar winds, and other orbit altering events.

It would be safer to keep the asteroids well away from the Earth and Moon, or position an asteroid at a relatively more stable Lagrangian point.

[Army Air Corps]

Ping

[WhiskeyX]

There is no such thing as “good enough to make the men unnecessary” in space exploration, whose ultiamte purpose can be nothing less than the establishment of permanent human colonization of extraterreestrial space habitats.