Buzz Aldrin Has New Yorkers Buzzing About Mars

[Buster's Uncle]

Buzz Aldrin Has New Yorkers Buzzing About Mars
By Megan Gannon | SPACE.com – 17 hrs ago...

Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the lunar surface, signed copies of his new book, "Mission to Mars," in New York on May 7.


and his co-author, veteran space reporter Leonard David, talked about the implications of putting people permanently on Mars.

 
NEW YORK — When Buzz Aldrin's new book landed in stores Tuesday (May 7), starstruck fans turned out in droves to see the legendary Apollo 11 astronaut talk about his vision for creating the first permanent human colony on Mars.

At least 300 people packed into the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Union Square, some carrying stacks of Aldrin's  "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration" (National Geographic Books) to be signed, while others just tried to catch a glimpse of the second man ever to walk on the moon.

In the audience, one boy with an Apollo pen made rocket ship noises and at least one baby and one teenage girl separately were dressed in mock NASA astronaut flight suits. Nearly everyone rose to their feet to snap pictures when Aldrin made his entrance. [Buzz Aldrin's Visions for Mars Missions & More (Video)]

"I think it's pretty awesome that he's probably one of the only people in the city right now who has been off this planet," said Philip Gazzara, a Queens man who was excited to stumble on the event on his way to Trader Joe's.



Buzz Aldrin became a household name his star power when he set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, bounding off the lunar module just after his crewmate, the late Neil Armstrong. But today Aldrin is firmly against sending humans back to the place he famously explored, for now at least.

He thinks the U.S. and a group of international partners need to set their sights on Mars, and ultimately he doesn't want to send astronauts there only to bring them back home. Aldrin envisions sending space pilgrims to colonize the forbidding planet, and his book he lays out a plan to get there, which includes an initial expedition to Mars' largest moon Phobos followed by deep-space cruisers that could ferry people from Earth to Mars.

In a Q&A session with co-author, Leonard David, a veteran space journalist and frequent contributor toSPACE.com, Aldrin touched on the historical implications of putting bootprints on the Red Planet.

"History, hundreds and thousands of years in the future, will observe that moment of making that commitment to do that," Aldrin said. Whichever leader decides to do so, Aldrin added, would exceed Alexander the Great, Genghis Kahn and Christopher Columbus in solar system fame.

Aldrin hopes to have an American president commit to continuous manned Mars exploration by 2019, and he is confident that space officials will have no trouble finding willing pioneers. The astronaut pointed to the 78,000 people who have already applied to become Red Planet colonists with the nonprofit organization Mars One.

Not everyone in the audience was as optomistic about Aldrin's vision. Tom Marshall, who came in from New Jersey, had serious doubts about the plan, hinging on U.S. partnership with other countries like China. "If we don't get along down here, we can't make it up there."

Asked why he came out to see Aldrin, Marshall simply said, "He landed on the moon."

That stark fact proves endlessly captivating to Aldrin's fans and the astronaut handles the inevitable flurry of questions about his Apollo 11 lunar landing with wit. One young boy in the audience asked Aldrin what he did during his trip to the moon, to which the astronaut replied, "We waited until it was time to come home." Another kid asked what it first felt like to step on the moon, and Aldrin answered shortly, "It felt good," teasing that "fighter pilots don't have feelings; we have ice water running through our veins."

http://news.yahoo.com/buzz-aldrin-yorkers-buzzing-mars-223721699.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin Launches 'Mission to Mars' Book Tour
By Robert Z. Pearlman | SPACE.com – 18 hrs ago...

The cover of Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin's book "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration" and a still from a video preview. The book lays out Aldrin's plan to land humans on Mars by 2035.

 
Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the moon during humanity's first lunar landing, has launched on a nationwide book tour to promote his "Mission to Mars."

The Apollo 11 moonwalker outlines his case for launching humans to the Red Planet by 2035 in "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration," released Tuesday (May 7) by National Geographic Books.

Together with co-author Leonard David, a veteran space journalist, Aldrin presents his "unified space vision," a blueprint for maintaining the United States' leadership in human spaceflight while at the same time avoiding a space race with China to be second back to the moon. [Buzz Aldrin Discusses Missions to Mars (Exclusive SPACE.com Video)]

Ultimately, Buzz Aldrin proposes establishing a permanent U.S.-led human presence on Mars 66 years after the first moon landing — the same amount of time that passed between the Wright brothers' first powered flight and he and Neil Armstrong touching down at Tranquility Base.

To further his vision and promote the book, Aldrin, 83, has embarked on a coast-to-coast (and back again) tour, kicking off Tuesday in New York City. His first "Mission to Mars" book signing was at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan.

Aldrin will then travel to Washington, D.C., where he will meet up with his co-author David for back-to-back evening presentations at National Geographic's museum.

While in the nation's capital, Aldrin will also speak at the "Humans2Mars Summit" being held at George Washington University and discuss the book during a Friday (May 10) event at the National Press Club.

Aldrin will then rocket back to the Big Apple, where he will be interviewed by adventurer and journalist Jim Clash as part of The Explorers Club's "Exploring Legends" series. While in New York, Aldrin will also drop by the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, near where the "Eagle," the lunar module he and Armstrong landed on the moon, was built.

Returning to his current home city of Los Angeles, Aldrin will speak at the annual awards dinner for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) on May 15. He is then scheduled to sign books at the San Diego Air and Space Museum and speak at the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference at the nearby Hyatt Regency La Jolla.

Crossing the United States again, Aldrin will land on June 1 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. for a public book signing and then participate in "The Future is Here," a Smithsonian conference to be held at the National Museum of the American Indian that same day.

Aldrin will visit his hometown on June 2, speaking at the Montclair Public Library in New Jersey. The talk and book signing will then lead into a trio of visits to the presidential libraries of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon in California and the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Arkansas.

The book tour, which includes other stops at bookstores and expos, as well as media appearances including BBC America's "The Nerdist" and Discovery Channel's "The Big Brain Theory," stretches through the summer.

"Mission to Mars" is Aldrin's eighth book. He has also written three autobiographies, two science fiction novels and two books for children. Aldrin will autograph copies of the latter, titled "Reaching for the Moon" (Harper Collins, 2005) and "Look to the Stars" (Putnam, 2009) during his current tour, but will sign no other books or memorabilia, according to his website.

For those who cannot attend the scheduled book signings, National Geographic Books is hosting a sweepstakes on Facebook to give away autographed copies of "Mission To Mars," as well as "Destination Mars" maps. The contest is open to U.S. citizens only now through May 31.

For more about these events, as well as an up-to-date list of where Buzz Aldrin will be signing copies of "Mission to Mars," see collectSPACE.com's astronaut and cosmonaut appearance calendar.

http://news.yahoo.com/moonwalker-buzz-aldrin-launches-mission-mars-book-tour-223724035.html