talk of mars mission from Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins say there should be a mission to mars

Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins say there should be a mission to mars, the apollo 11 astronaut's said to nasa to not bother with a lunar mission and enstead start to focus on a mission to the red planet mars.

Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins said it would be a re-hash to go back to the moon when nasa should try and go further to planets like mars.

Chapter 81.4: Earthrise on a New Era

I had almost forgotten that forty years ago, our first moon adventurers were in orbit. One of them, Bill Anders, took the photo that accompanies this little post.

Andrew Chaikin, who wrote A Man on the Moon, which was the basis for what became HBO's excellent From the Earth to the Moon series, posted an article on Space.com about the legacy of that flight and the prospect of a future flight to Mars. I can only hope, like Chaikin, that in the not too distant future we send a new group of astronauts to Mars. While it seems unlikely to happen soon, given the economic crisis this country and many others are facing, to my mind a flight to Mars is about reaching beyond ourselves and achieving together that which we can never achieve alone. Landing humans on Mars won't happen in 2009, but I hope that we make progress toward that end.

Chapter 73.4: From the Earth to the Moon... and Then Some

Perhaps the image above impresses me because I'm a bit of a space geek, but I think this is an amazing shot. In case it's not obvious, this is a picture of the earth and the moon. What's less obvious is where the photo's taken from: Mars.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image last fall. It's hard to make out, but the land at the lower half of the earth is South America.

Cool!

Chapter 71.2: Happy Birthday, Spirit!

My, how the time goes. It seems like just a little while ago we thought you two wouldn't make it to your first birthdays.

That's right, the little rovers that could are still going strong, several million miles away on Mars. Spirit turns four tomorrow, and her twin, Opportunity, celebrates the same birthday three weeks later.

The rovers weren't expected to last even six months, but look at them now! Last summer, scientists feared that massive dust storms would disable them both, despite the rovers being located far away from each other. Opportunity, rolling around near the Martian equator, took the brunt of it. But Spirit has not gone without challenges, breaking a wheel a couple years ago. That "disability" actually enabled it to dig up nearly pure silica, which helped to prove that water once flowed in the area.

And of course, they've taken some fantastic photos during their time on Mars.

So, happy birthday, Spirit. And Opportunity, a happy birthday to you too, coming up. Hopefully, there'll be several more to celebrate.

Chapter 65.8: Your Spacesuit Or Mine?

I'm a bit of a "spaceophile" and I wish I could explore space. Well, these new space suits should make exploration a lot easier. And it makes space exploration look better too, for when astronauts are shown on television. This is one way to make NASA popular again, though they've still got a fair amount of work ahead of them to regain some level of respect from the American people.

Chapter 62: Destination Mars

Ever wonder what the planet Mars might have looked like eons ago, when it might have sported water and oceans? Scientists at Cal Berkeley have come up with the image I've posted above. Take a look at what they say about the likelihood that Mars once was covered with water. Interesting stuff for "spaceophiles" like me.