Washington, July 20: Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin says Nasa should set its sights on a bigger target in the future – Mars.
Aldrin made the comments on the eve of the 40th anniversary of his landing on the moon on the Apollo 11 mission. He says the space agency was right to stop sending men to the moon back in 1972.
Aldrin says Mars is “much more suitable to earthlings, much more habitable. It’s possibly the source of life.”
He also recalled taking his first steps on the moon, a place that was “so desolate, so totally lifeless”.
“It probably hadn’t changed much in 100 000 years.”
Aldrin, who spoke on Fox News Sunday, was to appear on Sunday evening in Washington with fellow Apollo 11 crew Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins.
—Agencies