Is Buzz Aldrin Unimpressed With SpaceX Moon Mission?
(CBS SF) – The second human to walk on the moon appears to be unimpressed with a planned SpaceX mission to fly two people around the moon sometime in 2018.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin called for space travel to the red planet on Twitter Tuesday morning, a day after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced the moon mission.
Aldrin then went on to say he supports space tourism and possibly establishing a base on the moon.
The astronaut has been pushing for a Mars mission for years, and wears a t-shirt on occasion promoting exploration of the red planet.
Aldrin, along with Neil Armstrong, were the first humans to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, fulfilling a goal by President John F. Kennedy for the U.S. to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
Twelve astronauts have walked on the surface of the moon during the Apollo missions, but no humans have left low Earth orbit since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
Musk said SpaceX was approached by two "very serious" people who paid a "significant" deposit for the mission. SpaceX has not disclosed their identities.
"Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration," Musk said in a statement.
The CEO said the pair would undergo health and fitness tests and receive "extensive" training.
While SpaceX is focusing on the moon in the near term, Musk also has an ambitious plan for Mars. Last year, Musk unveiled a plan to colonize the red planet with up to 1 million people within the next 40 to 100 years.
