The first footfalls on Mars will mark a historic milestone, an enterprise that requires human tenacity matched with technology to anchor ourselves on another world.
Buzz AldrinMany say exploration is part of our destiny, but it's actually our duty to future generations and their quest to ensure the survival of the human species.
Buzz AldrinTo send humans back to the moon would not be advancing. It would be more than 50 years after the first moon landing when we got there, and we'd probably be welcomed by the Chinese. But we should return to the moon without astronauts and build, with robots, an international lunar base, so that we know how to build a base on Mars robotically.
Buzz AldrinI'm not in favor of just taking short-term isolated situations and depleting our resources to keep our climate just the way it is today.
Buzz AldrinI didn't start skiing until I was 50. My wife Lois taught me how to ski. I'm proficiently conservative.
Buzz AldrinDid the Pilgrims on the Mayflower sit around Plymouth Rock waiting for a return trip? They came here to settle. And that's what we should be doing on Mars. When you go to Mars, you need to have made the decision that you're there permanently. The more people we have there, the more it can become a sustaining environment. Except for very rare exceptions, the people who go to Mars shouldn't be coming back. Once you get on the surface, you're there.
Buzz Aldrin