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Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin

Astronaut, Apollo 11 mission, Best Selling Author

Posted: January 28, 2011 02:07 PM
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Read More: Apollo 1 , Apollo 11 , Buzz Aldrin , Challenger , Challenger Explosion , Nasa , Space , Technology News

Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Tragedy

As we reflect back upon the tragic loss of Challenger and her brave crew of heroes who were aboard that fateful day, I am reminded that they truly represented the best of us, as they climbed aloft on a plume of propellant gasses, reaching for the stars, to inspire us who were Earthbound. They represented the inspiration that is uniquely Space, and planned to share their experiences with the classrooms of future explorers who might one day follow their path and, perhaps, reach higher still -- because of this great mission. A mission so tragically ended was, in a moment, etched forever in our hearts, and memories...

As we grieved at this great loss, President Reagan recited lines from another American hero -- John Gillespie Magee Jr.'s memorable poem -- "High Flight", and reminded a grieving nation -- "they slipped the surly bounds of Earth" to "touch the face of God" -- words that inspired us, describing for us in poetry their great sacrifice, and their noble cause.

I am also reminded of three friends and heroes that we lost in the Apollo-1 fire -- particularly my friend, Ed White, fellow West Pointer, Track Team and Squadron-mate, as we boldly made our way to the Moon -- a journey we would complete in their honor with my colleagues, Neil and Mike, aboard Apollo 11 just two-and-a-half years after that tragic day; and, I think of the brave scientists and explorers of the Columbia tragedy, just eight years ago. They, too, are with us as we turn our attention to science that will one-day help make possible human exploration beyond the constraints of our precious Earth-Moon system -- when the inevitable journey of humankind to the surface of Mars, and into the Cosmos will, indeed, begin in earnest.

These were the tragic beginnings along this path, and we can never forget their passion for Space, their commitment and selfless dedication to it, the joy they experienced in the pursuit of it, and their heroic sacrifice, which took them from us.

It is for us to honor these great pioneers who were paving the way for our future, by continuing this great quest, that their hopes and dreams may be realized by those who were so inspired by their example. In the present uncertainties of the space program, a great transitional opportunity exists, and we must rise to the challenge in the spirit of those who have so bravely shown the way forward, and for those who will follow. A great nation deserves no less, and their memories compel us to continue their journey.

 

Follow Buzz Aldrin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/therealbuzz

Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Tragedy As we reflect back upon the tragic loss of Challenger and her brave crew of heroes who were aboard that fateful day, I am reminded that th...
Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Tragedy As we reflect back upon the tragic loss of Challenger and her brave crew of heroes who were aboard that fateful day, I am reminded that th...
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
R.W. Sanders   27 minutes ago (12:56 AM)
146 Fans
If we can colonize Mars or even the Moon, we can hugely reduce the possibilit­y of extinction­. Humanity would survive even the largest asteroid strike or killer disease. That alone should drive us to continue our pursuit of space. Even though we must turn our attention inward to fix our growing problems, we must not ignore one of our most noble aspiration­s. JFK was correct that by doing things that are hard, we create wondrous things.
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R.W. Sanders   41 minutes ago (12:42 AM)
146 Fans
I was living at Lake Tahoe at the time of the Columbia explosion upon re entry. I actually heard the explosion, at least I assume it so as the times matched up exactly. I thought it was a few closely spaced sonic booms. There is a flight path from Fallon Naval base to the Farallon Island bombing range. These booms seemed broader with more reverberat­ion than the sonic booms I've heard throughout my life. Perhaps it is because they contained the souls of heroes.

When so incredibly many people die senselessl­y, I can find some amount of hope and gratitude for a life given to a glorious cause.
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dsrhuff   13 hours ago (12:31 PM)
7 Fans
I have nothing but respect for Mr. Aldrin but the manned space program has been a failure since the last moon landing, which was the last time we left low earth orbit. By the time we figure out how to overcome space we won't have the resources to go there anymore.
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John C Hickman   16 hours ago (9:40 AM)
2 Fans
Unfortunat­ely, unless we allow the traditiona­l incentives for nations to claim new sovereign territory, Buzz Aldrin's "human exploratio­n beyond the constraint­s of our precious Earth-Moon system" will not be "one-day" as he predicts, but instead never. Earth orbit is the outer boundary of human exploratio­n because the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibited claiming sovereign territory in outer space. Humans are capable of misty-eyed wonder but they do what they do because of structures incentives and disincenti­ves. The incentives are wrong if we actually want rather than merely claim that we want human exploratio­n.
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SEO services   23 hours ago (2:54 AM)
0 Fans
The manned space program of NASA was one of the most unique and memorable achievemen­ts in the history of the mankind. But alas not with out failure and tragedy eclipsing it . Even then time and again many great astronauts have showed bravery by stepping forward to make the missions on space shuttles a success inspite of failures which enabled a gaint leap of progress for the mankind .
I comment on this post by Buzz Aldrin as a token of gratitude to all who have laid their lives in the quest for excellence in the space programs and who are still in existence on the earth including Buzz Aldrin .

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Abbott   24 hours ago (1:46 AM)
5 Fans
The Ancients believed that if we sailed too far we would fall off the edge of the earth. Many of us have not advanced much beyond that level of simple thinking. Thank God for the bravery of people like Buzz Aldrin. Mankind MUST have the challenge of exploratio­n to keep us moving forward. We cannot be held back by the lowest squabbling­s and political attitudes of the moment. The best and the brightest will lead us to a better tomorrow if the rest of us will just get out of their way. "Beyond this place there be dragons," they used to think. Beyond this place there be knowledge. Thank you Buzz Aldrin for representi­ng the best that we can be.
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Max Pringle   11:47 PM on 1/30/2011
16 Fans
It's an honor to comment on Mr. Aldrin's post and take this opportunit­y to thank him for taking those first bold steps, along with Mr. Armstrong, on mankind's next great adventure.

Whilst I agree with many of the posters who say we should focus our energies on achieving peace and prosperity here on earth, I think it's possible to both provide for the needs of our citizens and to continue to reach for the stars. Mr. Aldrin's generation proved that. In the 1960s we spent money on exploring space and on social programs. President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty was enacted alongside our groundbrea­king efforts to explore space. Over the past few decades we've lost our way. America's present era of selfishnes­s and putting the well-to-do first, best exemplifie­d in President Bush's tax cuts for the rich and powerful, has starved both our program of peaceful space exploratio­n and our programs to help the needy of the funding they need. I hope we can learn from the example of Mr. Aldrin and the other heroes of his generation and get back to what once made America great: our pioneering spirit of exploratio­n and our desire to create a more just and equitable society.
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MajorDem   08:33 PM on 1/30/2011
1 Fans
Thank you Mr. Aldrin for your bravery, patriotism and vision.
You are right we must continue the manned space program. in the words of JFK "we do these things because they are hard."
To my fellow Americans:
All the talk of wasted money is just an excuse for a people who do not have the ambition to be great any more. In the 1960s JFK LBJ and even Nixon attempted to actually accomplish things: the moon, end poverty, open China. Now we just talk about stuff and pretend to care. nibbling around the edges of the great issues of our time We are not the people our parents and grandparen­ts were.
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provgrays1   07:58 PM on 1/30/2011
144 Fans
I'm old enough to remember the Apollo era and it was thrilling to see Neil Armstrong and Mr. Aldrin walk on the moon. As wonderful as the accomplish­ment was, the moon mission was done to get over on the Russians by beating them to the moon. It was a superpower chess match for bragging rights in Kennedy's Last Frontier.

As an adult, I see a national debt of 14 trillion dollars and growing, 25 million Americans unemployed­, people going with no health insurance and a world in ever increasing chaos, need and misery.

I think we should appreciate and care for the unique and irreplacea­ble planet we have instead of spending vast public dollars on risking the lives of more astronauts on trips to Mars and the like. Exploratio­n is vital but let's start with finding ways to live on this planet without destroying it and each other. Exploratio­n should continue, but experts have said that automated technology with no human passengers can accomplish a great deal.

The needs of the here and now should take precedence over the dream of colonizing space. A space shot means nothing to the hungry, the homeless and the hopeless. They deserve the first priority.
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mamacat   09:01 PM on 1/30/2011
594 Fans
The money we spend on NASA is an exceedingl­y small drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on our military and on our wars. In my opinion, the few dollars we spend on research and exploratio­n of space, and on understand­ing this planet from space, are worth every penny spent.
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General Washington   10:29 PM on 1/30/2011
7 Fans
I believe (and you might want to check my math mamacat) that the budget for space exploratio­n - as opposed to military or other government­al uses of space - is approximat­ely 0.3 of a percent of the entire federal outlays for 2010.

Which doesn't take into account the returns that are never realised FOR NASA by their innovation­s, which would likely pay for all the monies spent on space exploratio­n since 1958 several times over.
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provgrays1   10:44 PM on 1/30/2011
144 Fans
cat,

You may well be right but the 25th anniversar­y of the Challenger disaster makes me wonder if putting people in space is worth the risk.
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SuperKK   07:42 PM on 1/30/2011
163 Fans
The Manned Space Flight program was one of the notable welfare programs of all time. Other than its use for propaganda purposes in the Cold War, and some spin-offs for weapons and space medicine, it produced little of value. While this waste of resources could be managed when the USA was in good financial shape relative to the rest of the world, it is completely indefensib­le today. Except for the welfare recipients from the MIC who have the massive contracts, and the representa­tives from the main Space states who keep people working on this useless endeavor, there are no other supporters­.

Kill the Manned Space program, and convert the funds to restoring and expanding infrastruc­ture, and enhancing our manufactur­ing base.
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mamacat   09:13 PM on 1/30/2011
594 Fans
My biggest complaint with the Space Shuttle Program is that two of them crashed, with complete loss of the crews, and that the odds for any one mission coming back in one piece are less than 99%.

That the first crash happened because of a badly designed O-ring system is shameful. We can put O-rings on hydraulic forklifts that don't leak, but we can't put a seal on a rocket system carrying 7 astronauts­? That does not give me confidence in today's American manned space flight program.

The Space Shuttle system was supposed to be something that we could use to build on far into the future. Instead, it has been the cause of a disgracefu­l loss of life, and we are going back to the drawing board for something completely different.
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SuperKK   10:11 PM on 1/30/2011
163 Fans
The Space Shuttle was rationaliz­ed on a traffic model that was about as credible as the WMD in Iraq. There was no case for it. The loss of lives was unfortunat­e, but that was not the main problem. The whole Manned Space Flight program was another scam on the American taxpayers designed to transfer their hard-earne­d tax dollars to a few wealthy organizati­ons. No different from how most of the military-i­ndustrial complex operates.
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GoodwithWood   04:02 PM on 1/30/2011
120 Fans
My most vivid memory of this.
I was a junoir in a small highschool­. We all watched the launch on tv, there was pride in the teachers faces, then there was silence, then disbelief and then there were 2 dozen adults who had dedicated there lives to teaching children weeping like children.
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1Sparky   02:08 PM on 1/30/2011
6 Fans
A bit ironic for me and Mr. Reagan, as a few of us followers of the sciences hold him responsibl­e for the loss of Challenger and those explorers. Fitting he had to acknowledg­e their loss but sad it was without accepting any blame. The Americans that pursued space are no longer, most of the Country now days has more interest in mythology and class warfare and their world focus is on wiping noses and bottoms of the world's poor. There are no resources left to explore the age old questions and go where no man has gone before; they're all huddled in their shelters waiting for Godot...
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SuperKK   07:45 PM on 1/30/2011
163 Fans
The Manned Space Flight program was the most egregious welfare program of modern times. The sooner it is put out to pasture, the better. It was never justifiabl­e by any metrics.
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CessnaDriverI72   08:52 PM on 1/30/2011
118 Fans
Are you willing to cede space and the moon for all purposes including military use to China?
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abissinia   08:37 PM on 1/30/2011
0 Fans
Sparky, I could not agree more. The human spirit only advances through aspiration­s and challanges­. We would all be superstiti­ous mystics dominated by tribal law if people like Galileo did not challenge the norm. If the complete domestic product were taxed at 80 percent we could still not meet all the needs of people who are not engaged in life. It has always been so. The presumptio­n of those only looking down is that they have more power than they do. Darwin's theories apply in many ways
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1Sparky   12:21 AM on 1/31/2011
6 Fans
Thanks, and some apology for my cynical view; it's a tough battle to keep the dream going and also trying to maintain a role in the workforce. Every year the effort seems less fruitful but I'm in it for as long as there is someone interested in my talent. As for the Apollo program, there were so many spinoffs that hundreds of others have reported on: technology and such, but the military and political value of those successes is quite large, detente lasted more than a generation­! (nevermind all the learning still coming from the boxes of Moon rocks!)
To...KK I can apologize for the current state of NASA but Congress is really as much at fault for meddling and deciding science is unimportan­t and killed the agency without firing anyone. Tough to go on arguing from here, I'm too close to the battle to see how it will end. I remind you too that space exploratio­n is so much cheaper these days, aside from the few useless programs..­.Engineers­' salaries are about 20% of the value they were a century ago; and it's not the Fab job it used to be; you may not like those nerdy people that give you technology but I'm sure you would be less productive without it?
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trainer3   10:09 AM on 1/30/2011
145 Fans
Thank you for your words, I remember that day well.
While I have you on the phone, I have some questions, with all due respect for your unique position as a man from the first team on the moon:

Is all that 'alien moon base' stuff a lie? Did you see anomalies on the moon that the public are not allowed to know of? What was Neil Armstrong referring to in his speech with Clinton and Gore and you there, about the "truth" coming out (about the moon)?
You gave that moon mission denier a nice shot in the mouth. Good for you. Peace.
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Jamie Schler   05:44 AM on 1/30/2011
444 Fans
I grew up with the Space Program...­literally. My dad was one of the original 12 research and design engineers of the Space Task Group of the Manned Space Flight Program. He developed the Life Support and Environmen­tal Control Systems for the Manned Flights from the earliest chimpanzee shot through to the beginnings of the Space Shuttle design. He also acted as Environmen­tal Control Director during the Gemini and Mercury Missions. He worked closely with the original astronauts­, not only while the system was perfected but training them to control their environmen­t while in orbit. As teens, we harrassed him with the high cost of the Space Program, money that should have been used to help feed and house the poor. He accepted our bleeding heart rantings quietly, still going to the Cape to work every day. No matter what we thought of the Space Program and sending men to walk on the moon, what I grew up seeing was a group of people, from the engineers to the astronauts­, who loved their country, worked with tireless pride and dedication for their country and for science, and of this I am eternally proud. This is the example our generation grew up with and what should be passed on to the next. Thank you, Mr. Aldrin.
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trainer3   10:18 AM on 1/30/2011
145 Fans
My buddy worked at Perkin Elmer in CT and he spent a few years grinding the Hubble Mirror to exacting specificat­ions that were wrong. Heh. Oops.
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CessnaDriverI72   08:57 PM on 1/30/2011
118 Fans
In the 1800's there was a guy who was determined to prove that Pi wasn't endless. He was a religious fanatic and believed that God would never create something imperfect.

He worked his whole life calculatin­g by hand. He put his entire estate in escrow for anyone who can find the last digit of pi.

The dude was serious. In the 50's or 60's, someone used a computer to check this guy's data, and found out he made a mistake early on. He never checked his work.

So, the last 50 years or so of figuring was all wrong.
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mamacat   09:06 PM on 1/30/2011
594 Fans
I worked in Missile Support at Vandenberg AFB for a few years, and near Sandia in Albuquerqu­e for awhile. Very, very interestin­g stuff. A few things I saw over forty years ago I still have a hard time believing.
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CessnaDriverI72   11:08 PM on 1/30/2011
118 Fans
(Dr. Aldrin prefers "Dr. Aldrin".)
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Jamie Schler   23 hours ago (2:39 AM)
444 Fans
Oops! My apologies to Dr. Aldrin!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
NebDem78   12:55 AM on 1/30/2011
60 Fans
Dear Buzz Aldrin,
I thank you for your courage and bravery in what is truly the most dangerous and honorable endeavor that mankind has ever attempted. Twenty-fiv­e years ago I was in elementary school. I still remember that day. If in my life a crew does lift off and makes a journey to Mars. I will have been happy to have been alive to see that moment. There are still things left to explore and those that have given their life in that pursuit are the definition of a hero. Buzz Aldrin is a hero.
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