Buzz AldrinOn Saturday, Buzz Aldrin became the first astronaut to accept an Emmy award.
He was also the second person to set foot on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Aldrin, along with Neil Armstrong, spent 21 hours on the lunar surface while some 600 million people watched from Earth. He later had an asteroid and a crater named after him.
Since retiring from the Air Force and NASA, Aldrin designed the Aldrin Mars Cycler, a “subway in the sky,” and received three patents, including one for multi-crew space modules. He founded Starcraft Boosters, Inc., a rocket design company, and the nonprofit ShareSpace Foundation, devoted to space education programs and advocacy.
In addition to several children’s books and other works of fiction and non-fiction, he recently published his autobiography, Magnificent Desolation. And he has recorded a rap single, “Rocket Experience,” with Snoop Dogg.
Before working for NASA, Aldrin received a Distinguished Flying Cross from the Air Force and earned a doctorate in astronautics at MIT. His mother’s maiden name was … yes: Moon. How aptonymic of her.
Aldrin has agreed to take your questions — about NASA, walking on the moon, the value to society of space exploration, or anything else you can conjure — so ask away in the comments section below. As with all Q&A’s, we will post his answers here in a few days.
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Can and if so how best should the US use international cooperation on space missions with countries like China, Russia and India to build mutual respect and avoid a future space military race? Should these be planetary explorers, continue to focus on the ISS, or others?
Buzz,
Please comment on the Constellation program. It looks like back to the future to the Saturn program. The Russians continue to use the Soyez and Energia rockets that date back to the 60′s. Now, we appear to be going back there too except the new program will cost a ton of money and take a long time to unfold. The Russian program seems like a bargain by comparison. Why not build our own capsules and buy their boosters and reverse engineer them. Would it be faster and cheaper than the new program?
Space exploration involves a trade-off between astronaut risk, financial cost, and time cost per mission.
My uninformed observation is that the initial ‘moon shot’ took a WWII view on personal risk (ie, in war sometimes people die). Modern missions seem very unwilling to take risks with lives.
What do you think of this current balance?
What did you think of James Marsters’s recent portrayal of you?
You recently referred to a “monolith” on one of the moons of Mars. Can you please elaborate? What monolith?
Do you believe that mankind would ever survive to enter the space age, when traveling to interstellar space in light speeds would be a necessity, and that we will live amidst an intergalactic mix of races across several planets? Could Star Trek become a reality? Do you see a need for that?
Have read any of ‘Isaac Asimov’s’ fictions? What do you think of ‘Foundation Series’? Which was your favorite science fiction?
Did Neil Armstrong really say “…and God bless you Mr. Gorsky, wherever you are” after his famous first words from the moon?