Moon mission evolves into Richland mission
Joyce Jackson
Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: News
One of Aldrin's most spectacular achievements, among many, was to pilot a Gemini 12 space flight in 1966 and set a record in rendezvous by spending 5 ½ hours outside the spacecraft.
"What a sight. To be looking down at the Earth from outside the spacecraft traveling at 17,000 mph and just kind of holding on loosely - no air flowing by, of course," Aldrin said at the fundraising event titled Reaching for the Stars - Walking on the Moon. "It's quite an experience of freedom. You don't want to drift away. . . ."
Aldrin, now 79, said the most difficult part of the Apollo journey was returning to Earth. It was the reason why, after 39 years of lunar hindsight, he embarked on writing his biography, Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon (2009). He published an autobiography, Return to Earth, in 1973.
"Our descent to the Sea of Tranquility was the most complicated and critical part of the mission," Aldrin said. When they landed, Aldrin describes what he saw: "But what a scene we looked at. . . Things hadn't changed in what we looked at for hundreds of thousands of years. A little more dust accumulated - two weeks of blistering sun as the sun went from rise to sunset - two weeks of darkness - all heat goes way up. It gets very hot and very cold. No air. Black sky. Nothing growing. It's a very poor place to set up housekeeping."
Aldrin said it's one of the reasons why he doesn't think that we should go back to the moon unless there's a good reason to bring things back that are useful and worth the cost of going. He suggested using robots, and he also promotes voyages between Earth and Mars.
"The true value of Apollo was that people back here felt they participated in it. We made it. It's the sort of thing we heard as we toured around the Earth when we came back," Aldrin said. "These people - everyone - felt that somehow they had participated or witnessed an incredible journey to another world. Those were magic times. The world welcomed us back as heroes. We spent 45 days touring around the world."
"What a sight. To be looking down at the Earth from outside the spacecraft traveling at 17,000 mph and just kind of holding on loosely - no air flowing by, of course," Aldrin said at the fundraising event titled Reaching for the Stars - Walking on the Moon. "It's quite an experience of freedom. You don't want to drift away. . . ."
Aldrin, now 79, said the most difficult part of the Apollo journey was returning to Earth. It was the reason why, after 39 years of lunar hindsight, he embarked on writing his biography, Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon (2009). He published an autobiography, Return to Earth, in 1973.
"Our descent to the Sea of Tranquility was the most complicated and critical part of the mission," Aldrin said. When they landed, Aldrin describes what he saw: "But what a scene we looked at. . . Things hadn't changed in what we looked at for hundreds of thousands of years. A little more dust accumulated - two weeks of blistering sun as the sun went from rise to sunset - two weeks of darkness - all heat goes way up. It gets very hot and very cold. No air. Black sky. Nothing growing. It's a very poor place to set up housekeeping."
Aldrin said it's one of the reasons why he doesn't think that we should go back to the moon unless there's a good reason to bring things back that are useful and worth the cost of going. He suggested using robots, and he also promotes voyages between Earth and Mars.
"The true value of Apollo was that people back here felt they participated in it. We made it. It's the sort of thing we heard as we toured around the Earth when we came back," Aldrin said. "These people - everyone - felt that somehow they had participated or witnessed an incredible journey to another world. Those were magic times. The world welcomed us back as heroes. We spent 45 days touring around the world."
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