Almost forty-four years after the U.S. won the race to the moon, famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin is making his case for a new focus – Mars. In his new book out today - "Mission To Mars: My Vision For Space Exploration" he makes the argument for continued space exploration both robotic, and human. Author, veteran astronaut, and space advocate Buzz Aldrin joins “Starting Point” to discuss the next steps for space exploration.
Buzz Aldrin has it wrong on who led the world, it was the Russians . . . . but that aside, I think he is also wrong on the Mars-vs-Moon issue. The reason why we should colonize the Moon first is because it makes an ideal space station. It has low gravitation, so escape velocity is not much of an issue, look at the size of one of the lunar crafts that blasted off from the Moon and it is clear, the Moon would make a better space base than mars. Resources from the moon could be put in space more easily than from Mars too. Mars is a short-term bet, but the moon would not only lead us to Mars, but also the stars . . .