Dramatic Readings of Astronaut Quotes and More From Buzz Aldrin’s Reddit AMA
"I walked on your face!" -Buzz Aldrin to the Moon.
Buzz Aldrin, who you may know from being the second person to walk on the Moon, did an AMA on Reddit yesterday, and that’s how we got this great dramatic reading of one of his answers from Redditor el_lou-derino. The AMA kicked off a campaign for the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, which happened on July 20th, 1969. For the #Apollo45 campaign, they’re asking you to share your story from the Moon landing for an Apollo45 YouTube Channel.
Here are some of the best bits from his AMA if you don’t want to read the whole thing in full for yourself, starting with the great quote from above (usernames in bold):
thekelseyscott
Is there any experience on Earth that even compares slightly to having been on the Moon?BuzzAldrinHere
My first words of my impression of being on the surface of the Moon that just came to my mind was “Magnificent desolation.” The magnificence of human beings, humanity, Planet Earth, maturing the technologies, imagination and courage to expand our capabilities beyond the next ocean, to dream about being on the Moon, and then taking advantage of increases in technology and carrying out that dream – achieving that is magnificent testimony to humanity. But it is also desolate – there is no place on earth as desolate as what I was viewing in those first moments on the Lunar Surface.
Because I realized what I was looking at, towards the horizon and in every direction, had not changed in hundreds, thousands of years. Beyond me I could see the moon curving away – no atmosphere, black sky. Cold. Colder than anyone could experience on Earth when the sun is up- but when the sun is up for 14 days, it gets very, very hot. No sign of life whatsoever.
That is desolate. More desolate than any place on Earth.
And now for your burning question: what space movies entertain people who have been to space?
15chainz
Mr. Aldrin, do you watch movies about people going to space, if so, which one is your favourite?BuzzAldrinHere
I have watched many movies from martians coming to Earth in New Jersey in the form of giant snakes – this was a radio program created by Orson Welles, War of the Worlds – and I’ve read many science fiction stories, descriptions, by Isaac Asimov, but my favorite of course is Arthur C. Clarke. So 2001: A Space Odyssey. And then later on, I managed to arrange a cruise ship departing from Sri Lanka where Clarke lived, and I was able to stay with him, talking about many, many things in the past. I wrote a book along with Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, called First on the Moon, and the epilogue was written by Arthur C. Clarke. When I wrote my book of science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke wrote a one page forward that was OUTSTANDING, absolutely, as he praised our ingenuity and imagination. And when we visited, we talked about a treasure he had discovered in the ocean, and we both hoped in the future that he and I could scuba dive and perhaps retrieve some of that treasure. That never happened, unfortunately.
I thought that the movie Gravity, the depiction of people moving around in zero gravity, was really the best I have seen. The free-falling, the actions that took place between two people, were very, I think, exaggerated, but probably bent the laws of physics. But to a person who’s been in space, we would cringe looking at something that we hoped would NEVER, EVER Happen. It’s very thrilling for the person who’s never been there, because it portrays the hazards, the dangers that could come about if things begin to go wrong, and I think that as I came out of that movie, I said to myself and others, “Sandra Bullock deserves an Oscar.”
And of course, his thoughts on our next goal: Mars.
iamaAMAfan
Hello Mr. Aldrin!
Our nation and our world have been waiting for another monumental achievement by humanity ever since you were a pioneer in the space race and set foot on the Moon. For lack of any serious government effort, I’m rooting for Elon Musk to accomplish this by sending man to Mars. What advice would you give Elon to achieve the ultimate objective of permanence on Mars?BuzzAldrinHere
There is very little doubt, in my mind, that what the next monumental achievement of humanity will be the first landing by an Earthling, a human being, on the planet Mars. And I expect that within 2 decades of the 5th anniversary of the first landing on the moon, that within 2 decades America will lead an international presence on Planet Mars. Some people may be rooting for Elon – I think he could, with his SpaceX, contribute considerably, enormously, to an international activity not only at the moon but also on Mars. I have considered whether a landing on Mars could be done by the private sector. It conflicts with my very strong idea, concept, conviction, that the first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth. They should be the beginning of a build-up of a colony / settlement, I call it a “permanence.” A settlement you can visit once or twice, come back, and then decide you want to settle. Same with a colony. But you want it to be permanent from the get-go, from the very first. I know that many people don’t feel that that should be done. Some people even consider it distinctly a suicide mission. Not me! Not at all. Because we will plan, we will construct from the moon of Mars, over a period of 6-7 years, the landing of different objects at the landing site that will be brought together to form a complete Mars habitat and laboratory, similar to what has been done at the Moon. Tourism trips to Mars and back are just not the appropriate way for human beings from Earth – to have an individual company, no matter how smart, send people to mars and bring them back, it is VERY very expensive. It delays the obtaining of permanence, internationally. Your question referred to a monumental achievement by humanity – that should not be one private company at all, it should be a collection of the best from all the countries on Earth, and the leader of the nation or the groups who makes a commitment to do that in 2 decades will be remembered throughout history, hundreds and thousands of years in the future of the history of humanity, beginning, commencing, a human occupation of the solar system.
If that’s not quite enough Aldrin for you, there’s plenty more about his other achievements in life, how they decided who got first dibs on the moon walk, and anything else you could think of in the full AMA.
(via Reddit, featured image via Jean-Daniel Pauget)
- Buzz Aldrin helped PayPal with an interplanetary payment service
- 50 Moon facts to help you understand that big flying rock
- Twitter memorialized the 44th anniversary of the Moon landing last year
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