At the age of 75, Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the Moon, shows no signs of strain. He attended the 2005 International Lunar Conference as a guest of honour, asking questions during the technical proceedings. He was also at the Paramount movie theatre on Tuesday night for a media screening of the new Moon-themed IMAX 3-D movie, Magnificent Desolation. The Varsity caught up with Aldrin there:

Mike Ghenu: Where should we go after we build the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), and after we land on the moon again?

Buzz Aldrin: We have a CEV that is going to be like the command module and service module. I feel we need a dedicated lander, and that lander can contribute tremendously to the one we need for Mars. We may need to build a bigger CEV to be able to go to Mars, but basically the design will be the same. And we’ll need bigger rockets.

Then we need to visit [a near-Earth object] robotically, and convince the world that if an object is going to impact on the Earth, that in the future we do something about it-we can nudge it, change its path. We could bring back resources, and maybe we can have humans visit.

As a matter of fact, there’s a very convenient one that’s going to swing by inside the satellite ring that is geostationary, on Friday the thirteenth of April, 2029. And we should visit that briefly, with humans, and then go to the moons of Mars. That doesn’t mean that maybe we couldn’t have a brief landing on the first time we go to Mars, but maybe we shouldn’t count on that.

MG: How should the private sector be involved in pushing space exploration along?

BA: I think now there is an opportunity for the private sector to do a sub-orbital flight-like the X-Prize. But I do not believe the private sector can afford to economically get people into orbit. A few people, maybe three or four, but the expense is going to be such that the only people that can do that are the wealthy people. To me that is not what we should be doing.

I think we need a vertical launch [vehicle] to get into orbit, and I think we need the biggest one, and that’s going to be a government one. We need a partnership between the space lines that operates equipment that was designed for government exploration and then modified-so that means it’s tax payer paid-for. And if that’s only available for the wealthy, it’s going to make a lot of people unhappy.

We want enthusiastic people to become a part of taking a chance on an opportunity to get into space. That’s much more important than a lot of wealthy people [going there].

MG: What was your reaction when Space Ship One won the X-Prize last fall?

BA: My biggest impression was that they had a geometry that changed-the [angle of the] tail changed for re-entry. So the geometry for re-entry was different from going up or landing. They had to lower the tail back down again to land. That would not have come back from orbit-it would have burned up. So we need something that has that principle, but is capable of re-entering the atmosphere and then changing its geometry.
Now a parachute can change that geometry, but that’s not really what I mean. I think we can change something mechanically and land on a runway. Someone’s going to come along and develop that, and I hope I can help.