Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration

by Buzz Aldrin, Leonard David

“Any time an Apollo-era astronaut steps forward with ideas for our future in space, it’s time to stop what whatever we’re doing and pay attention. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first moonwalkers, has no shortage of these ideas. And in Mission to Mars he treats us to how, when, and why we should travel there.”  —Neil deGrasse Tyson

Legendary "space statesman" Buzz Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. As a pioneering astronaut who first set foot on the moon during mankind's first landing of Apollo 11--and as an aerospace engineer who designed an orbital rendezvous technique critical to future planetary landings--Aldrin has a vision, and in this book he plots out the path he proposes, taking humans to Mars by 2035.

Foreword by Andrew Aldrin
Chapter 1: The View from Air Force One
Chapter 2: Time for Decision-making
Chapter 3: Your Space: Building the Business Case
Chapter 4: Dreams of My Moon
Chapter 5: Voyage to Armageddon
Chapter 6: The March to Mars
Chapter 7: Homesteading the Red Planet
Chapter 8: The Clarion Call

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Space, History, Audiobook, Politics, Technology

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., January 20, 1930) is an engineer and former American astronaut, and the second person to walk on the Moon. He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. He set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 (UTC) on July 21, 1969, following mission commander Neil Armstrong. He is also a retired colonel in the United States Air Force (USAF) and a Command Pilot.

Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., a career military man, and his wife Marion (née Moon). He is of Scottish, Swedish, and German ancestry. After graduating from Montclair High School in 1946, Aldrin turned down a full scholarship offer from MIT, and went to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. The nickname "Buzz" originated in childhood: the younger of his two elder sisters (Fay Ann) mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer", and this was shortened to Buzz. Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.

Buzz Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951, with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft.

Subsequent to the war, Aldrin was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and next was an aide to the dean of faculty at the US Air Force Academy. He flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in the 22d Fighter Squadron. In 1963 Aldrin earned a Doctor of Science degree in astronautics from MIT. His graduate thesis was "Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous", the dedication of which read, "In the hopes that this work may in some way contribute to their exploration of space, this is dedicated to the crew members of this country’s present and future manned space programs. If only I could join them in their exciting endeavors!" On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut. His initial application to join the astronaut corps was rejected on the basis of having never been a test pilot; that prerequisite was lifted when he re-applied and was accepted into the third astronaut class, the first selection for which he was eligible.

Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts selected in October 1963. After the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to back-up crew for the mission. The main objective of the revised mission (Gemini 9A) was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle, but when this failed, Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous with a co-ordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12. Aldrin set a record for EVA, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft.

On July 21, 1969, he became the second astronaut to walk on the Moon, keeping his record total EVA time until that was surpassed on Apollo 14. Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation."

After leaving NASA, Aldrin was assigned as the Commandant of the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service, and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role, but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiographies Return to Earth, published in 1973, and Magnificent Desolation, published in June 2009, both provide accounts of his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career. His life improved considerably when he recognized and sought treatment for his problems. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. It had a lot of good information, but it was often redundant & all of it was soaked in propaganda & his ego. His ideas on where we should focus our attention in space & why are great. The delivery just sucked.

The propaganda: America is the leader, will be, should be. I don't have a problem with that in small doses, but these doses were too big. Felt like I was listening to an old Army flick.

The ego: This was very much about him & he never missed an opportunity to make it more so. Most leaders in the field were introduced as 'my good friend' or not mentioned at all. It detracted from the subject too often. He deserves to be proud & he's one of my heroes. That's not what this book was supposed to be about, though.

If you're into space, you should probably read or listen to this. There's not much I hadn't heard or read about before on the tech side, but the politics & economics were interesting from his perspective. On the tech side, we've blown past a lot of it when SpaceX touched down on the barge in April 2016. To be fair, that wasn't really thought to be a possibility back when Aldrin published this book - all of 4 years ago.

[GT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buzz Aldrin is a brilliant, talented, revered figure. I was excited to get his last book as a birthday gift from my brother. With the recent successful launch of the next generation spacecraft, Orion, on 12-5-14, the timing seemed perfect for tackling this book.

I did enjoy it, but honestly, not as much as I anticipated. And probably that is my fault. This book delivers a compelling argument and thesis on the steps necessary to get mankind to Mars, exactly as it advertises it will! But for me the romance of space travel was somehow lost and I found this a very dry read. I also found it somewhat repetitive on particular points. For example, Aldrin must bring up at least 3 times that a manned mission to Mars in 2035 would occur 66 years after he stepped on the Moon in the Apollo 11 mission. This 66 year time span correlates exactly to the 66 years between Apollo 11 and man's first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight (the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk). I know he means this as a mechanism to keep us focused on getting to Mars, but it seems somewhat a stretch...

I did learn an awful lot. Specifically I loved the idea of Cycler Vehicles. From their description, Aldrin proposes multiple space ships that continuously shuttle between Earth and Mars forever without requiring a significant amount of propellant to keep them in motion and on track. They'd make use of gravitational forces and require 2+ years to complete the journey. Wow, now that is cool.

To summarize, this is a good book that goes to great lengths to discuss the many pros and cons about near-future manned space exploration, and what resources, research, and willpower it will take to get us there.

3 Stars

★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible

[Urstoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a book, but rather just another stop on the Buzz Aldrin self-promotion train (although a bit less embarrassing than his appearance on WWE). It's admitted explicitly that this is really just Buzz Aldrin's notes stitched together only semi-coherently by science writer Leonard David. The major result is an extremely short (210 pages of main text, triple spaced, with at least 40% of the space taken up by pictures), shallow tour of stuff that Buzz Aldrin has been thinking about or been involved in over the last twenty years. The major ideas, such as cyclers (spaceships that are on fixed paths between Mars and Earth), need much more expansion, but instead we get tons of tiny, pointless ideas that add nothing to the overall picture (this foundation was created for this purpose, this thinktank was created that purpose, and on and on). Of course, we even get a some recollection of Buzz Aldrin's time on the moon, I guess to be inspiring (see also the various picture of Buzz looking off into the distance quasi-visionary-like), but it just comes off as self-aggrandizing. It can probably be read cover-to-cover in two hours, but even that would be a waste of time.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

65% Good

Mission to Mars is a book written by retired astronaut Buzz Aldren, famouse for being the second man to walk the moon. As an aspiring astronaut, I greatly admire the people who posses the skills needed for such a job, though I felt that this book was dominated by Aldren's ego- and who would not be prideful of carrying out a journey takes you 238,900 miles away from Earth into the beautiful vastness of space and to a place never explored by man before? But this book was suppose to be about the Mission to Mars.
On that topic... I feel that the idea of colonizing Mars may have some truth to it... BUT I also I feel that the Earth should be our one and only home. And this is not due to any religious beliefs. It is because I don't think there is a need to spend the recourse needed to colonize Mars. Sending Astronauts to Mars is one thing, and is something I support, but millions of people? No. One might say that our population will grow to large and destroy Earth if some of us were not leave it, so, what, you are going to perform mass sterilizations? Conversely, studies show if we educate EVERY man and woman then our population would stay some what the same. Why? Because we have shown if people, especially woman, are educated well they will have less children because they are not raised thinking their duty in life is to bare children, and other reasons.
There are other ways to stay on this Earth and keep it healthy- we do not have to indulge in the idea of abhorrent mass sterilization and other forced acts.
So why would we indulge in the idea of doing something we are not even prepared for when we already have multiple ideas at hand? And whose to say that even if we do colonize Mars we won't over burden it like we are the Earth? Then what, will we colonize another planet? There are no other planets in the Solar System that could support us. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are out of the question because they are Jovian planets. (They have no solid surface as they are gaseous- consisting mainly of H and He.) Venus has too much pressure for humans to withstand, among other things. Mercury gets up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit during its day and drops to negative 290 degrees Fahrenheit during the night. I simply don't see how colonizing Mars would be sustainable.
I could go on..but I'll just say I don't really support the idea of colonizing Mars. I read this book in hopes to gaining a better idea on why so many want to, but as I said earlier this book was dominated by Aldren's ego.

🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏

👋
Hazel

[Wesley Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fortunate this summer to meet Buzz Aldrin in Rapid City and get my copy of "Mission to Mars" signed by the legendary Apollo 11 astronaut. I also was able to hear him speak at the South Dakota School of Mines regarding his experiences and his advocacy for Mars exploration.

"Mission to Mars" is definitely an engineer-based book, with lots of technical details and ideas, which can be hard to understand in certain chapters. But Aldrin and his co-author Leonard David, have done a good job in writing a book for the general, non-engineer, public. Aldrin makes a strong case for NOT going back to the moon, but to join other countries in making humans on Mars possible. He is aware that private-sector funding is key, teaming up with NASA and federal funding. His case is strong and well-thought out and I hope, as he hopes, that the 45th president of the United States will make the statement: "I believe this nation should commit itself, within two decades, to commencing American permanence on the planet Mars." Would be the biggest news story of my generation!

[Steve M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface my comments by telling you that the Apollo astronauts were my childhood heroes. Especially Neil and Buzz. That being said, I was not all that impressed by this book. Aldrin's outline for the future of the space program and mission to Mars is sensible but not exciting. Buzz has accomplished incredible things in his lifetime and I don't wish to diminish any of that. Perhaps it's not the content or ideas that bothered me but the style in which it is written. The book is highly repetitive. Annoyingly so. There is also a bit of a condescending tone as if an elder is instructing a novice. Which, of course is true but not a comfortable position to be in as a reader.

Two stars for Mission to Mars,
All of the rest for Buzz.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good informed overview of what it might take to establish habitation on Mars. Buzz Aldrin's passion comes through, but it doesn't really consistently animate his prose.

[Jim Martine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It breaks my heart to give 2 stars to this book by a man I greatly admire and respect. I’ll take the blame for reading a 10 year old science book at a time when science and technology are changing so quickly. Mr. Aldrin is a brilliant and accomplished man but unfortunately his vision for the space program has largely been ignored or bogged down by administrations with widely different visions.

[Todd Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buzz Aldrin is best known for his career as a US astronaut and for being the second person to ever set foot on the moon. But that was 45 years ago. Today he remains deeply engaged in the space program and wants the US to set its sights on putting a man on Mars. Aldrin lays out his vision in Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration a book that includes very specific suggestions for technology development, budgeting, oversight, communication and public policy as well as a time table with detailed intermediary goals for making this dream a reality. Aldrin makes the case that such a high visibility, national goal would have broad social benefits by promoting investment in STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) and in inspiring students to pursue these fields. It could also spur cooperation and beneficial relations among nations who would need to work together to develop the infrastructure necessary to make outer space exploration routine.

I admire Aldrin’s vision and completely agree that a broad national goal could focus the collective energy of the country in a positive direction that could be socially and technologically transformative. In fact, we know this possibility exists because Kennedy’s goal to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960’s had exactly that effect. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether the US still has the capability to do big things. Local and federal elected officials seem intent on political gamesmanship and playing small ball with regards to public policy. Instead of a mission to Mars or a transformative energy, communication, education, or transportation program we are instead treated to wars of choice, 50x attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, scandal-mongering, and political gridlock. Aldrin is hopeful that the country can rise above its base inclinations to accomplish great things, but given the level of polarization and shortsighted foolishness of our elected officials I have to confess to some skepticism on this point.

The alternative would be for the private sector to step in and fill the gap, but I’m not holding my breath. In addition to the fact that the private sector’s only motivation lies in short term profit (entirely lacking in establishment of a human base on Mars), the SpaceX program is still working on attainment of low-Earth orbit. Given that this modest goal was achieved by the US government in 1966 the private sector is currently lagging almost 50 years behind the public sector (and have only made it that far thanks to NASA’s assistance).

As to the book, I found it interesting and was impressed with several of Aldrin’s ideas, in particular that of a Mars Cycler. My only criticism is that the text is serviceable, but not exceptionally well-written. The book read quite a bit like a policy paper that’s been polished up a bit for presentation to a public audience.

[katie meddins (maresh) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, I have thoughts. (read for a bit of a rant)

Firstly, I think its important to note that many of the key points of this book, were, or could have been strong, such as a movement towards a united global space effort rather than a nationalistic one, and a future focus on cyclic space routes and moving away from the reliance on single-use space crafts.

HOWEVER, despite very early on emphasising the importance of global cooperation and stating that he did not approve of a 'space race' mentality, Alrin continually repeated that 'America MUST lead in space'. This does not sound to me like a collaborative programme, and more a way of the USA asserting dominance and a sense of superiority.

Furthermore. Aldrin uses the phrase 'exploration, not conquest' but then nullifies this by going on to explain his view that advances towards mars should not solely be for the purpose of expanding knowledge of of the Red Planet, evolution, life on Earth and the universe, but to 'colonise' and spread humanity as far as possible, with the direct aim to 'exploit' resources. Maybe we should prioritise advancing our understanding, and taking care of the planer we have already fucked up first.

This leads to my next big qualm: Aldrin's firm push for space exploration to be a private enterprise. This book contained so much glorification of billionaires like Branson, Musk and Bezos and promoted the idea that private development of space flight would be key to moving humanity to new planets for our own capitalist gains. He failed, however, to comment on how this method would alienate (ironic, i know) 99% of people who cannot afford this, emphasising how his view of the future favours the elite, enabling those who have destroyed earth to leave it behind without consequence.

It was also quite unusual to see an Apollo astronaut imply that NASA was doing things not *wrong*, as such, but not far off that. (Interestingly, there was VERY little mention of the ESA in this book).

The third portion of the book was arguably the most unbiased, and I think this book could've had great potential but this was far outweighed by the blatant American ego, (he even used the phrase 'eternal glory') and elitist tendencies.

As someone undertaking a large research project on a currently unstudied area of Mars, it is somewhat disconcerting to read a book with such motivations from someone with so much influence in the field of exploration. Aldrin gave credit to the important work of geoscientists in the pursuit of knowledge, but maintains the mindset focused on capital gain, which ultimately is the underlying issue in the current state of the planet.

[David R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's start by my stating that Edwin Aldrin is an incredibly bright guy. He single handedly solved glaring problems with space walking during Project Gemini and may have helped sign the deal for so-called Lunar Orbit Rendezvous that made Apollo 11 possible. That said, Aldrin also has the annoying habit of writing like the smartypants kid in our school classrooms: always characterizing his ideas as bold and brilliant while denigrating those of others. In this book (or is a collection of speeches? Multiple repetitions of ideas suggest the latter) Aldrin lays down a vision for achieving a mission to Mars. It's entrancing but probably not going to happen for a long time. Another peskiness is name-dropping Aldrin's new penchant for sucking up to the current president. Mr. O shows up a LOT in this book and one gets the distinct impression Aldrin is regularly calling the White House to sell his latest ideas. Some may see parallels between Aldrin's boosterisms with those of Werner Von Braun in the 1950s, but I think Von Braun was much better able to connect with the average American than the I-am-so-smart-don't-you-forget-it Buzz Aldrin. I've read two of these so far: it's high to move on!

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a few interesting parts to this book (the chapter about the moon and his ideas regarding more long term approaches to exploring and colonizing Mars saved this from being a 1-star review), but for the most part... well, I'm a bit disappointed.

I met Aldrin about a year or so before this book was published, and I enjoyed listening to him when he chatted about his ideas and thoughts regarding future Mars missions, so I've had it in the back of my mind to read this book for a while. The experience was not worth the wait. I feel like the interesting stuff in the book could have been covered in an article in Science (magazine), Science Illustrated, or National Geographic. The rest was more promo-tour than anything else.

Too bad, I wanted to like this more than I did.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a lot of good information if you don’t know much about recent ideas and goals for Mars. Unfortunately I have listened to way too much Neil Degrasse Tyson’s Star Talk and most of this was old news. The audiobook narrator was also super boring.

[Lucie Kovarik · Rating 3 out of 5]

wow i actually finished an audiobook, kinda interesting despite not really getting the hype with mars and creating permanent settlements there. i feel like i was talked at instead of taught for a lot of it tbh. i affirm that planes are better though.

[Leah Fowler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. Only the last 25% of it was about Mars. The rest was just random space related stories. Which I don't mind. But I started reading this book to hear more about Mars. So I can't say it was bad, but it wasn't was I was looking forward to reading.

[Aziz Sihweil · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ray Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a fascination with Mars. From Dante’s mystical forays to Kim Stanley Robinson’s terraforming epics, from Burroughs’ pulp to Bradbury’s poetry, I can’t get enough. If the government’s going to spend money on space exploration, it should be with an eye to create a self sustaining colony on Mars. Anything short of that is a failure. I believe solely focusing on unmanned space exploration will lead to waning public interest and minimal funding. The trickle of data will slowly decrease. Scientists may be able to use it to find out a bunch of cool stuff, but it will be increasingly esoteric to the average Joe. We recently did a Pluto fly by, but popular culture has already moved on.

Of course, manned space exploration doesn’t guarantee public interest either. Space has got to be relatively easy and accessible and then it can be profitable. Getting to that point is not easy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it never happened. But, oh, how I wish it would!

If a pep talk about going to Mars is what you need then Aldrin’s Mission to Mars is the book for you. Unfortunately that’s about all it provides. It’s haphazard, scattershot, poorly organized, and poorly argued. It’s three parts raw enthusiasm, two parts self aggrandizement, with a few interesting ideas sprinkled in for flavor.

Among the latter are the “Aldrin Cycler” system of space ships. These are perpetually orbiting ships that never stop. You’d take a shuttle out to the cycler as it comes close to Earth and ride it to Mars. Once there you’d hop off onto a similar shuttle and the cycler continues on it’s way back to Earth.

The other cool idea is his approach to going back to the Moon. In short, he argues that other countries should do that. Instead the US should focus on developing the cycler technology within the Earth-Moon system, and otherwise develop infrastructure — communication satellites, Earth-Moon Lagrange point space stations and fuel depots, etc. — and exchange usage of these resources with other countries that want to develop a presence on the moon. Once the technology is developed we expand it to Earth-asteroid and Earth-Mars systems.

In my opinion the notion that there will be any kind of return on investment on space exploration in the near future has to be abandoned. If space ever becomes profitable it will be a long time from now and will require mining mineral rich asteroids (keep in mind that a space windfall on iron, gold and other valuable resources would decimate the mining economy on Earth) and Helium-3 mining for fusion purposes. But that is dependent on actually creating a viable Helium-3 fusion technology first.

In that sense I think the book is misleading when it comes to economic opportunities.

Mars won’t be a financially profitable excursion. We won’t find extraterrestrial life there. We should go to Mars purely for the thrill of the technical challenge involved. And if we don’t find that challenge worth pursuing, get used to terra firma, because we’ll never leave.

I’ve heard Zubrin’s books about Mars are better. I need to give them a try.

[Kate Rauner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because I find my self becoming disenchanted with the idea of colonizing Mars. Exploring Mars sounds exciting, but I don't think I would want to move to Mars. I haven't found a reason why I would spend huge amounts of time and effort to become a subsistence farmer on the edge of starvation, suffocation, and freezing, all while living in a tiny box with practically no privacy. Would there really be any time to explore? I want someone to argue me out of my view.

Buzz Aldrin, writes that "humanity is destined to explore, settle, and expand outward into the universe." Aldrin's book includes some autobiographical information as well as his vision for the future. There are over eighty illustrations and an appendix that lays out the timeline of past US space policy. Aldrin is conversational and sometimes repetitive. He does not present a tightly constructed argument or a highly technical discussion. This book will not tell you how microwaves transmitted to Earth will be transmogrified into electricity, or what a solar electric propulsion system actually is, although these technologies are mentioned.

Aldrin's vision is incremental. He discusses politics and finance. His plan includes practical, profit-making missions to the moon, and exploration and manipulation of Near Earth Objects to enhance our survivability on Earth. He quotes science fiction author Larry Niven as saying "the dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program."

Next exploration bases would be established on the moons of Mars, which would use rovers with radically new designs to explore the Martian surface. Ultimately, permanent colonies would be established on Mars

It is amazing to realize that a man born at the start of the Great Depression has walked on the moon and now plans for colonists to live on Mars. I'm not yet convinced I want to move to Mars, but I'm thinking.

[Darren R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

He lays out a very specific plan to get to Mars and stay on Mars. His optimistic approach to large and small challenges is encouraging. Some of the ideas are repetitive but they ultimately reenforce his thesis. Good reading!

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buzz Aldrin is a pretty fantastic guy. I got to hear him speak at my semi-local library when his handler wasn't cutting him off for telling inappropriate stories. I still want to know about the iguanas, lady! Who cares if there are children present?

This book outlines Buzz's vision of both privately-funded and government space exploration with the ultimate goal of getting settlers to Mars. It's written simply enough (and with lots of pictures) that a non-scientist like myself can understand it and is well sourced among Buzz's fellow genius colleagues. He addresses both the science and the funding aspect to propose a very different mission from our space exploration forays of the past, one based on collaboration and long-term thinking rather than competitive races.

I'm not versed enough to speak to the validity of his claims, but as a fan of science and science fiction, I can say it's an intriguing future, and one I hope I live to see.

[Fraser Kinnear · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was published in 2013, and probably written in 2012. Despite being written by a national hero and very bright guy, it has not aged well. I wish Buzz had written this book today, because SpaceX has changed so much of the narrative about getting us to Mars, even in the past 5 years.

The Case for Mars is a far better account of what it would take to colonize Mars, because it spends far more time on the science of how we could colonize mars. Buzz doesn't even get into the orbital mechanics to near the same degree of detail that the Case for Mars does, which is astonishing, as that's Buzz's passion. In fact, knowing in advance how short Mission to Mars is, some additional insight in the orbital mechanics of a Mars journey was really all I was hoping for out of the book. Instead we get crazy stuff like what kind of people should constitue a committe that would propose a Mars plan???

[YourManJeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope we don't drift too far from his vision. In some ways we are still on track, in other ways we're falling behind. I loved hearing Buzz Aldrin speak in person and the passion he had for this project, the book expands on his presentation and inspires the next generation of explorers. The world needs big technological goals and peaceful/profitable competition to drive us towards them.

[Chad G · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down. I was conflicted on rating this book. This would have been a 4 star rating had I read it in 2013. Now in 2019, this book is old news, and doesn’t hold much relevance in the age of Elon Musk and SpaceX. I’d recommend more contemporary books, such as Space Barrons, or The Future of Humanity. Overall, it was still an enjoyable read.

[Jay Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read for a lay person interested in the basic science behind how we would get people to Mars. I found this to be a mostly easy read, this coming from someone who is in the humanities. Enjoyable and thought provoking this book does get my hopes up of one days seeing humans colonizing Mars.

[Mark Baller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cogent outline to getting to the red planet that makes sense and the issues involed political, financial, and scientific problems involved. Written by someone that knows a thing or two of the above.
This is a quick read and to the point

[sumo · Rating 3 out of 5]

good quick read. Pretty outdated already (things have been moving fast in the space business the last few years), but definitely still applicable. Made even cooler because I met Buzz at the Space Symposium just after I finished this!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide to future space exploration with asteroids and Mars as a destination. Mars would be a planet to colonize not just explore.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Powerful message, but not the best development of argument and It feels quite disconnected from modern socio-economics.

[Patrick Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mission To Mars
By Buzz Aldrin

- [ ] This book was written in 2013
- [ ] He pioneered docking and rendezvous
- [ ] He wants to cycle ships from the earth, moon, and mars. He sees Phobos and the Moon as staging grounds for Mars
- [ ] He sees things in four year election cycles, he understands the fluctuations of power. He believes in the power of inspiration that a president carries, having gone to the moon on Kennedy’s pledge
- [ ] There should not be another moon race, America has already been there. Also there should be more collaboration instead of competition between countries. We should not be colonizing the moon. We should be shuttling between them
- [ ] He wrote his thesis about orbital rendezvous and was significant contributor to its success. He regrets not pushing for reusable multi staged rockets in the mid 70’s. He was not a fan of the shuttle. Reusable fly back two stage booster rocket, he patented
- [ ] He is talking about long haul deep space cruisers, the future of humanity, commercial and public space programs, he has the plans for all of these. He can get us to explore the solar system. The celestial triad of earth, moon, mars. The next challenge is Mars via one of its moons. A permanent profitable human presence in space
- [ ] Phobos is 17 miles wide and only 4,000 miles above Mars. Robots would build the infrastructure on Mars before humans landed on Mars
- [ ] He wants a permanent human presence on Mars. We need a clear unified vision
- [ ] Space tourism
- [ ] Lotteries, rewards, paid customers. A main component of his is space tourism
- [ ] exploration, education, experience
- [ ] He wants America to lead in the space innovation and leadership, Americans should not be on the moon. The moon could be and should be mined
- [ ] Near earth objects - NEO, asteroids. He wants to send probes to them and possibly have humans approach them. They can also be mined. There is a section on the legality of mining space objects. He does not believe the UN should be deciding this, rather new organizations that are specific to space. A motivator for going to the moon and asteroids is the economic potential of mining them
- [ ] He talks about the threat of NEOs and the possibilities of deflecting them and protecting earth. If even a 30 meter one hit the ocean it could have massive global consequences, even impacting the chemistry of of atmosphere. That is wild
- [ ] Phobos and Deimos are the closest moons to any planet in the solar system. There is debate on how their origin. Phobos is 17 miles wide and Deimos is 6 miles wide, they are essentially asteroids in Mars’s orbit. They are tidily locked to Mars in the same way that one side of the moon always faces Earth. NASA is not a fan of going to these moons first but Buzz is. He sees them as a staging ground to Mars. Robots on Mars would be controlled by astronauts on these moons. The robots would build the bases that humans would live in
- [ ] He mentions the emotional impact that long voyages will have on astronauts and preparing humans for that stress
- [ ] Shoot, there is a section or two that I am forgetting that is important
- [ ] Going to Mars the astronauts would be in a one way settler journey. He anticipates the dynamics of the crew, the challenges they will face, all of the necessities. Humans on mars will have learn to live without any privacy. They will have to learn how to be patient and alone, they will have up 20 minute time delays in communicating with Earth
- [ ] There is mention of using solar panels on the moon to send energy to earth
- [ ] It will be difficult to not containment Mars once humans land, we bring microbial life
- [ ] The call to action, to inspiration, to the future of humanity
- [ ] Buzz is amazing, the world has been honored to have him
- [ ] Space exploration rules of the road: science, exploration, development, commerce, security
- [ ] I am still not entirely convinced that humans should be going to Mars or the Moon but Buzz presents solid arguments. I am supportive of using space for economic reasons, for resource collection and for tourism. I believe that space is inspiration, that artists should be going to space, that the technology and science will follow the art and dream. I also believe that humans should become a space faring civilization. Well it was a few hundred years after Columbus, Roanoke, and Plymouth, that Lewis and Clark traveled west and a hundred or more years until mass industrialization of America. In that case, the same explorers times could be going to the Moon and Mars. It’s possible that Buzz has convinced me of his ideas
- [ ] He wanted the President to announce a commitment to sending humans to Mars within two decades on the 50th anniversary of humans landing on the moon. That announcement did not happen but we could still get there in that time
- [ ] With reusable rockets, the recent lottery that sent civilians into space, with Elon trying to go to Mars, it seems like people are listening to Buzz. These two books have uplifted me and made me more hopeful about human space exploration. Thank you Buzz

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buzz Aldrin was the second man to walk on the Moon and is considered one of the most intelligent of the astronauts. He had a doctorate in astronautics and the other astronauts gave him the nickname “Dr. Rendezvous,” because of his deep knowledge of orbital mechanics. Aldrin is also credited with inventing underwater training of astronauts to simulate weightless conditions.
This book is a detailed description of Aldrin’s position on how human exploration of space and other planets should proceed. He uses his expertise on complex orbits, knowledge of how projects are approved and funded to describe a way in which a semi-permanent shuttle that would travel between Earth and Mars could operate.
A large ship capable of coupling modules for crews would fly in a continuous looping orbit between Earth and Mars. A module containing an outbound crew would rendezvous with it when it is near Earth and then move out to Mars. While the ship is near Mars, the module would detach and the module containing returning astronauts would rendezvous with the ship and attach to it for the journey back to Earth. Once the large ship is constructed and placed in the looping orbit, minimal fuel would be required to make the journeys.
Aldrin also points out that the two small moons of Mars would serve as excellent way stations and bases for travel to the Martian surface. With little gravity and a rapid orbital speed around Mars, these moons would be easy to disengage from and provide a superb observational platform.
This is a book that should be read by all people interested in space exploration that has the goal of exploring Mars. Aldrin has experience in space, a strong background in the science needed to send ships on long, complex voyages and has the gravitas that forces serious attention to his positions.